of  ttjr  Urpubltc 


STEPS    IN   THE    EXPANSION 
OF   OUR   TERRITORY 


APPLETONS' 

Expansion  o!  the  Republic  Series 


Each  volume  i2mo.     Illustrated.     $1.35  net 
Postage,  12  cents  additional 

The  History  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 

By  JAMES  K.  HOSMER,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Ohio  and  Her  Western  Reserve 

By  ALFRED  MATHEWS. 

The  History  of  Puerto  Rico 

By  R.  A.  VAN   MIDDELDYK.     With  an  introduction, 
etc.,  by  Prof.  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh. 

Steps  in  the  Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

By  OSCAR  PHELPS  AUSTIN,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics,  Treasury  Department. 

Rocky  Mountain  Exploration 

By  REUBEN  GOLD  THWAITES.    In  preparation. 
The  Conquest  of  the  Southwest 

By  CYRUS  TOWNSEND  BRADY,  Author  of  "  Paul  Jones" 
in  the  Great  Commanders  Series.     In  preparation. 

The  Purcha.se  of  Alaska. 

By  OSCAR  PHELPS  AUSTIN,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics,  Treasury  Department.     In  preparation. 

Proposed  Volumes 

Tne  Settlement  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
TKe  Founding  of  Chicago  and  tKe  Development 

of  tKe  Middle  West 
JoKn  Brown  and  the  Troubles  in  Kansas 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK 


STEPS   IN   THE 

EXPANSION    OF    OUR 

TERRITORY 


BY 

OSCAR  P.  AUSTIN 

CHIEF  OF  THE    BUREAU   OF   STATISTICS,    DEPARTMENT   OF 

COMMERCE   AND   LABOR,  WASHINGTON 
MEMBER   OF   NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC   SOCIETY 


X 


NEW  YORK 

D.  APPLETON   AND    COMPANY 
1903 


COPYRIGHT,  1908 
BY  D.   APPLETON   AND   COMPANY 


Published  November,  1903 


CONTENTS 


PAGES 

INTRODUCTION 1-0 

FIRST  PERIOD 

DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION 10-23 

Spanish  exploration  and  occupation — Portuguese  discovery 
and  occupation — French  and  English  exploration. 

SECOND  PERIOD 

COLONIZATION 24-56 

Jamestown,  1607— French  colonization  begun— Plymouth, 
1620— Dutch  colonies  on  the  Hudson— The  Massachusetts 
colony — The  Maryland  colony — New  Hampshire,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut — New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware 
— The  Carolinas — Pennsylvania — Georgia — From  1607  to 
1750 — Other  English  colonies  in  America — French  and  Eng 
lish  claim  the  Mississippi  Valley — Territorial  claims  in  North 
America  in  1750 — Relations  of  the  English  colonies  prior  to 
1750 — The  struggle  for  control  of  the  Mississippi  Valley — 
The  French  driven  off  the  continent. 

THIRD   PERIOD 

INDEPENDENCE  AND  UNION 57-81 

Trouble  between  the  English  colonies  and  the  mother  coun 
try — The  northern  Ohio  Valley  annexed  to  Canada — British 
territory  in  America  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution — 
The  War  of  the  Revolution — Formation  of  the  Confederation 
— Determining  the  boundaries  of  the  new  Union. 

V 


129028 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

FOURTH  PERIOD 

PAGES 

WESTERN  LANDS  CEDED  TO  THE  COMMON  UNION    .        .    82-99 
The    "Independent    State  of    Frankland" — First  steps  in 
State-making  from  common  territory — The  Northwest  Ter 
ritory  organized — Adoption  of  the  Constitution — A  govern 
ment  for  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio. 


FIFTH  PERIOD 

THE   FORMATION  OF  NEW   STATES 100-116 

Vermont — Kentucky — Tennessee — The  Territory  of  Missis 
sippi—First  State  formed  from  the  Northwest  Territory. 

SIXTH  PERIOD 

EXPANSION  BEGUN— THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  .        .    117-126 
Causes  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana — The  national  area 
doubled  by  the  purchase  of  Louisiana — Boundaries  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase. 

SEVENTH  PERIOD 

THE  MIDDLE  WEST  SUBDIVIDED — FLORIDA  PURCHASED  127-149 
Burr's  attempt  to  establish  a  new  government  in  the  south 
west—The  Territory  of  Illinois  created— The  War  of  1812 
—Activity  in  State-making— West  Florida  added  to  the 
national  area — State  of  Indiana — State  of  Mississippi — State 
of  Illinois— State  of  Alabama — The  Florida  purchase — 
Boundaries  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  denned — Arkansas 
Territory  created. 

EIGHTH  PERIOD 

THE      SLAVERY     QUESTION     IN     ITS      RELATION      TO     STATE 
HOOD    150-164 

The  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  State  of  Missouri — 
Balance  of  power  between  free  and  slave  States — The  Ohio 
and  Michigan  boundary  dispute— Arkansas  and  Michigan 
admitted  as  States— Florida  and  Iowa  admitted  as  States. 

vi 


Contents 

NINTH   PERIOD 

V  PAGES 

TEXAS,  OREGON,  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR  .        .        .    165-178 
Texas  added  to  the  Union— Wisconsin  admitted  as  a  State— 
The  Oregon  Territory — The  Mexican  cession. 

TENTH  PERIOD 

KANSAS,  NEBRASKA,  AND  MISSOURI    ....    179-189 
Minnesota  and  Oregon  admitted  as  States — The  question  of 
slavery  in  the  new  Territories. 

ELEVENTH   PERIOD 

THE  CIVIL  WAR  . 190-203 

The  war  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union — Slavery  termi 
nated — Activities  during  the  war  period — Many  new  Ter 
ritories  formed — How  West  Virginia  was  created  a  State — 
Dividing  the  extreme  northwest — State  of  Nevada. 

TWELFTH   PERIOD 

ALASKA,  RECONSTRUCTION,  AND  LATER  STATES  .        .    204-215 
The  seceding  States  readmitted — Colorado,  the  "  Centennial 


State" — Washington,   Idaho,  Wyoming,    and   the   Dakotas 
made    States — Utah   as  a 
and  the  Indian  Territory. 


made    States — Utah   as  a  Territory  and  State — Oklahoma 


THIRTEENTH  PERIOD 

HAWAII,  PORTO  Rico,  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES     .        .    216-225 
Annexation  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands — Porto  Rico,  Guam, 
and  the  Philippines — Our  Samoan  Island — The  home  of  the 
National  Government. 

THE  CAUSES  OF  NATIONAL  GROWTH   ....    226-244 
Growth   of   population — Growth  of   commerce — Growth  of 
area — The  land  system — Result   of  a   liberal  land   policy — 
Growth  in   manufacturing    industry — Our   urea    compared 
with  that  of  other  countries. 

vii 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

PAGES 

APPENDIX 245-252 

Summary  of  States  and  Territories— Statistics  of  States  of 
the  Union  organized  from  acquired  territory — Agricultural 
and  manufacturing  interests  of  the  United  States,  1850  to 
1900— Additions  to  the  territory  of  the  United  States  from 
1800  to  1900. 

INDEX  .        .    253 


Vlll 


MAPS 


PAOB 

America,  routes  of  discovery 9 

Possessions  claimed  by  discovery  in  1000  ....  23 

French  explorations  and  posts 27 

Early  colonial  grants 31 

Original  English  grants 41 

Territorial  claims  in  North  America  in  1G50      ...  47 

Territorial  claims  in  North  America  in  1700      ...  51 

Territorial  claims  in  North  America  in  1750      ...  54 

Territorial  division  after  withdrawal  of  French         .        .  56 

English  colonies,  1763  to  1775 62 

Land  claims  of  the  original  States  in  1773         .        .        .75 
Plan  of  division  of  North  America  offered  by  French  in 

1782 78 

Area  ceded  to  Union  by  peace  treaty  of  1783  ...  80 
Territory  relinquished  to  common  Union  by  original  States  85 
Jefferson's  plan  for  dividing  western  territory  ...  89 
First  steps  in  dividing  the  western  territory  ...  98 
The  United  States  at  the  opening  of  the  19th  century  .  109 
The  Louisiana  Purchase  and  division  of  Northwest  Ter 
ritory  115 

Subdividing  the  country,  work  of  the  first  decade     .        .  125 

Subdivisions  and  additions,  1810  to  1820  %£$&  *  •        .  135 
Subdivisions  of  territory,  1820  to  1835        .        .        .        .148 

ix 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

PAGE 

Subdivisions  of  1836  and  1837 103 

Addition  of  Texas 169 

The  Oregon  country  added  to  the  Union  ....     173 

The  Mexican  Cession  of  1848 176 

The  western  area  subdivided 180 

History  of  slavery  in  the  United  States     ....    188 

Reference  map  of  Civil  War 193 

Subdivisions  of  territory,  1858  to  1861  .  .  .  .197 
Subdivisions  of  territory  during  the  Civil  War  .  .  201 
Recent  division  and  addition  of  island  territory  .  .211 
The  United  States  at  the  opening  of  the  20th  century  .  221 
Development  of  States  ....  facing  page,  242 


< 

UN'. 


STEPS  IN  THE 
EXPANSION  OF  OUR  TERRITORY 


INTKODUCTION 

To  tell  in  simple  terms  the  steps  by 
which  the  United  States  has  been  trans 
formed  from  thirteen  political  communities 
into  fifty,  the  process  by  which  new  terri 
tory  has  been  added  and  great  unoccupied 
areas  have  been  transformed  into  Territories 
and  then  States,  is  the  object  of  this  work. 

The  process  of  our  national  growth  has 
been  unique.  Nations  have  usually  been  con 
structed  by  the  conquest  and  absorption  of 
adjacent  territory,  by  an  alliance  or  consoli 
dation  of  countries  or  communities,  or  by  the 
planting  of  colonies  which  have  remained 
subject  to  the  parent  country.  But  the  spec 
tacle  of  thirteen  distinct  communities  uniting 
in  one  common  organization  and  voluntarily 
creating  from  their  unoccupied  area  other 
organizations  of  equal  rank  and  power  with 
themselves,  until  the  newly  created  members 

I 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

of  the  family  finally  exceeded  the  original  in 
number,  in  population,  and  in  political  power, 
is  an  unusual  feature  of  national  history. 
The  area  conceded  to  the  original  thirteen 
States  by  the  peace  treaty  which  followed 
the  close  of  the  Revolution  was,  in  round 
terms,  828,000  square  miles,  or  about  three 
times  the  present  area  of  Texas.  More  than 
half  of  this  area  was  voluntarily  relinquished 
for  the  formation  of  new  political  organiza 
tions  which  were  to  have  equal  rank  with 
those  which  relinquished  it ;  and  thirteen 
other  States,  since  formed  and  admitted  to 
the  Union,  are  composed  in  whole  or  in  part 
from  territory  which  belonged  to  the  original 
thirteen  in  1783. 

The  original  States  were,  as  is  well  known, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Is 
land,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia. 
The  area  conceded  to  them  by  the  peace  treaty 
of  1783  was  827,844  square  miles.  Their  pres 
ent  area  is  325,065  square  miles,  or  less  than 
40  per  cent  of  their  original  possessions. 
From  the  remaining  502,779  square  miles 

2 


Introduction 

have  been  constructed  the  States  of  Maine, 
Vermont,  West  Virginia,  Alabama,  Missis 
sippi,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  part  of 
Minnesota.  Over  50,000,000  people  now 
occupy  the  area  ceded  to  the  thirteen  States 
by  the  peace  treaty  of  1783,  and  practically 
one-half  of  that  number  are  located  in  the 
new  States  which  have  been  formed  out  of 
that  area.  Turning  to  the  territory  which  has 
been  added  to  the  area  of  the  United  States 
by  the  various  processes,  the  number  of 
political  organizations  which  have  been  cre 
ated  is  much  greater.  From  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  of  1803,  which  more  than  equaled 
the  original  area  of  1783,  have  been  created 
fourteen  new  States  and  Territories,  in  whole 
or  in  part ;  from  the  Florida  Purchase  of 
18t#,  a  single  State ;  from  the  Texas  Annexa 
tion  of  1845,  the  great  State  "of  Texas  and 
parts  of  five  other  States  and  Territories,  as 
will  be  hereafter  described ;  from  the  Oregon 
territory,  to  which  our  title  was  confirmed  in 
jl£46^three  States;  and  from  the  Mexican 
Cession  of  1848,  seven  States  and  Territories, 
in  part  or  whole ;  while  the  Alaska  Purchase 

3 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

of  1867  gave  a  territory  larger  than  any  of 
the  additions  except  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 
From  the  areas  thus  added  have  been  formed 
twenty-five  political  organizations,  and  they 
contain  a  population  of  about  25,000,000,  an 
area  three  times  as  large  as  that  ceded  to  the 
original  thirteen  States  and  eight  times  as 
large  as  that  which  those  thirteen  original 
States  now  possess. 

In  a  word,  it  may  be  said  that  the  original 
thirteen  States  relinquished  about  60  per 
cent  of  their  territory  which  afterward  formed 
thirteen  other  States,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
and  that  there  has  also  been  added  to  the 
Union  an  area  practically  three  times  as  great 
as  that  which  originally  belonged  to  the  thir 
teen.  About  one-third  of  the  population  of 
the  country  is  located  in  the  area  reserved  for 
themselves  by  the  original  thirteen  States, 
another  one-third  in  the  area  which  they  re 
linquished  to  form  other  States,  and  the  re 
maining  one-third  in  the  area  since  added  to 
Vjthe  Union. 

Thus,  the  United  States  of  to-day,  through 
the  process  of  addition  and  division  into  new 
political  units,  equal  in  political  rank  with 

4 


Introduction 

that  of  the  older  members  of  the  Union,  has 
now  nearly  four  times  as  many  political  di 
visions  as  at  the  formation  of  the  Union, 
more  than  four  times  the  area,  and  more  than 
twenty-five  times  the  population  which  it 
then  had.  It  is  to  tell  the  history  of  this 
growth  in  area  and  population  and  especially 
the  transition  of  that  area  into  new  political 
divisions  that  this  work  is  devoted. 

Three  hundred  years  is  not  a  long  time 
in  the  history  of  nations.  Within  that  time 
the  population  of  England  has  grown  from 
5,000,000  to  32,000,000,  that  of  France  from 
15,000,000  to  about  40,000,000,  and  that  of 
all  Europe  from  about  75,000,000  to  practi 
cally  400,000,000.  Yet  in  that  same  period 
—from  1607  to  the  present  time — the  Eng 
lish-speaking  population  of  the  area  now 
known  as  the  United  States  has  grown  from 
a  little  more  than  one  hundred  persons  to 
80,000,000,  and  the  territory  which  they  con 
trol  from  a  few  acres  to  an  area  equal  to  that 
of  all  Europe. 

Even  if  we  go  back  to  the  very  beginnings 
of  American  history,  the  discovery  by  Colum 
bus,  the  period  is  not  a  long  one  or  the 

5 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

story  of  development  difficult  to  trace  in  its 
outlines.  The  period  from  1492  to  the  pres 
ent  time  falls  naturally  into  three  simple  di 
visions  of  nearly  equal  length :  1.  That  of 
exploration  and  discovery,  from  1492  to  1607. 
2.  Colonization  and  colonial  life,  from  1607 
to  1776.  3.  The  formation  and  development 
of  a  nation  governing  itself  by  the  dictates  of 
its  own  people,  and  growing  great  and  strong 
and  prosperous  until  it  stands  in  the  very 
front  rank  of  the  world's  great  nations,  ex 
tending  from  1776  to  the  present  time. 
These  three  divisions  of  time  do  not  differ 
greatly  in  length :  the  first,  nearly  a  century 
and  a  quarter ;  the  second,  nearly  a  century 
and  three-quarters ;  the  third,  a  full  century 
and  a  quarter.  Their  relative  length  may 
be  better  determined  by  the  accompanying 
lines : 

Exploration,  1492-1607. 
Colonization,  1607-1776. 
Union,  1776  to  the  present  time. 


These     three     divisions    are    necessarily 
somewhat  arbitrary.      There  were  more   or 

6 


Introduction 

less  attempts  at  colonization  in  the  first 
period,  and  more  or  less  exploration  and  dis 
covery  in  the  second  and  even  the  third. 
There  was  a  slow  drifting  toward  self-govern 
ment  and  union  in  the  closing  portion  of  the 
second  period.  Great  changes  in  the  move 
ments  and  purposes  of  mankind  do  not  occur 
instantaneously,  and  this  was  especially  true 
in  the  earlier  periods  when  intercommunica 
tion  between  men  was  carried  on  by  the  slow 
processes  which  existed  before  the  application 
of  steam  and  electricity  to  the  transmission 
of  thought  and  intelligence.  But  they,  never 
theless,  form  the  outlines  of  our  history — a 
history  which  begins  with  the  discovery  of 
the  continent  of  which  the  United  States  is 
now  the  chief  nation,  so  distinctively  the 
chief  nation  that  its  people  are  designated  the 
world  over  by  the  simple  title  "  Americans." 
The  third  division  includes  the  chief  events 
to  which  this  study  is  devoted,  the  trans 
formation  of  common  area  into  new  States. 

The  native  population  of  America  at  the 
time  of  its  discovery  can,  of  course,  only  be 
estimated,  and  the  fact  that  the  people  them 
selves  had  no  established  basis  of  fact  upon 
2  7 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

which  estimates  could  be  calculated,  renders 
the  task  of  forming  even  an  estimate  a  diffi 
cult  one.  Estimates  of  the  entire  population 
have,  therefore,  differed  widely,  ranging  as 
high  as  25,000,000,  or  even  30,000,000,  for 
the  entire  continent.  But  the  sober  studies 
of  ethnologists  in  recent  years  have  resulted 
in  the  conclusion  that  these  estimates  were 
greatly  exaggerated,  and  it  now  seems  prob 
able  that  the  population  of  all  America  at  the 
date  of  European  discovery,  exploration,  and 
settlement  did  not  exceed  10,000,000,  and 
may  have  been  considerably  below  that  fig 
ure.  This  population  was,  apparently,  about 
equally  divided  between  North  and  South 
America,  the  most  densely  populated  sections 
being  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  Peru, 
where  also  the  highest  grade  of  civilization 
and  the  greatest  accumulations  of  wealth 
prevailed ;  and  it  was  to  these  sections  that 
the  Spanish  gave  their  chief  attention, 
slaughtering  and  despoiling  the  people,  rob 
bing  them  of  their  wealth,  enslaving  them 
and  in  some  cases  causing  the  almost  total 
disappearance  of  considerable  groups  of  the 
native  population. 

8 


ABIERICjA 

SHOWING  THE  MORE  IMPORTANT  OF  THE  JOURN.EYS 
OF  DISCOVERY  AND  EARLY  SETTLEMENTS- 
REFERENCE  TO  JOURNEYS. 
C,Aumbut 


DtSato 

- — '•  —  — -—  Criamplain 
LaSalU 
Uudton 


SCALE   OF   MILES 

0    50100       200~~aOO       400     I 

li»    LonzHu-1*  West   <X 


FIEST  PERIOD 

DISCOVERY    AND     EXPLORATION 

THE  first  period,  from  the  date  of  discov 
ery  in  1492  to  the  first  permanent  English 
settlement  in  1607,  was  devoted  to  determin 
ing  the  form,  the  character,  and  the  possibili 
ties  of  the  newly  found  world — the  Ameri 
can  continent.  Its  discovery  was  an  incident 
in  an  attempt  to  find  a  direct  water-route  to 
India,  whence  Europe  had  long  drawn  an 
important  supply  of  gold  and  silks  and  spices 
and  perfumes  and  precious  stones,  but  to 
which  the  overland  route  was  difficult  and 
attended  with  great  dangers  from  fierce  des 
ert  tribes ;  and  Columbus,  who  discovered 
America  in  1492,  supposed  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death  in  1506  that  the  land  which  he  had 
found  was  simply  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia. 
Seven  years  later,  however,  Balboa,  exploring 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien  from  the  most  west 
erly  point  he  had  been  able  to  reach  by 

10 


Discovery  and  Exploration 

water,  discovered  that  another  ocean  lay  be 
yond,  and  then  the  European  world  began  to 
realize  that  a  new  continent  awaited  its  ex 
ploration  and  development. 


SPANISH  EXPLORATION  AND  OCCUPATION 

The  first  settlement  of  Europeans  in 
America  was  established  by  Columbus  him 
self.  On  his  first  voyage  he  left  forty  of  his 
crew  with  abundant  supplies  on  the  Island 
of  Haiti,  as  it  was  called  by  the  natives,  or 
Santo  Domingo  as  the  Spanish  named  it,  with 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  permanent  set 
tlement.  On  his  return,  a  year  later,  he 
found  that  the  entire  colony  had  perished, 
partly  though  internal  dissensions  and  partly 
by  reason  of  unjust  dealings  with  the  natives 
who  had  destroyed  them.  Another  colony 
was  immediately  planted  at  a  more  favorable 
spot  on  the  same  island,  naming  it  Isabella. 
The  city  thus  founded  became  the  first  per 
manent  European  settlement  in  America,  and 
was  the  capital  of  Spanish  America  until 
about  1520.  From  it  other  colonies  or 
groups  of  Spanish  settlers  were  sent,  to  Ja- 

11 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

maica  in  1509;  Porto  Kico,  in  1510;  and 
Cuba,  in  1511.  Ponce  de  Leon,  who  had  been 
governor  of  Porto  Rico,  went  from  that 
island  to  Florida  in  search  of  a  fountain 
which  was  reported  to  be  capable  of  giv 
ing  permanent  youth,  and  thus  was  the  first 
to  explore  the  mainland  of  the  continent 
(1513),  and  two  years  later  Pineda  explored 
the  country  along  the  north  coast  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Soon  the  Governor  of  Cuba  sent 
Cortez  on  an  expedition  to  explore  and  con 
quer  Mexico,  and  on  arriving  there  (1519) 
he  found  that  the  land  was  occupied  by  a 
people  far  superior  to  any  that  had  been  seen 
in  the  islands  or  on  the  northern  shores  of 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Destroying  his  ships  to 
compel  his  men  to  fight  with  greater  courage^ 
he  penetrated  the  country,  and  in  two  years 
had  subdued  and  taken  control  of  Mexico. 
Pizarro,  who  had  accompanied  Balboa  when 
he  discovered  the  Pacific  in  1513,  visited  Peru 
in  1526  and  discovered  its  civilization  and 
wealth.  On  reporting  the  facts  to  the  Span 
ish  Government,  he  was  authorized  to  in 
vade  and  conquer  it,  and  by  1536  was  in  con 
trol  of  the  country  which  now  forms  Peru, 

12 


Discovery  and  Exploration 

Chile,  and  Ecuador.  In  1539  De  Soto,  who 
had  accompanied  Pizarro  to  South  America, 
returned  to  the  mainland  of  North  America, 
where  he  supposed  he  would  also  find  a 
wealthy  people  whom  he  might  conquer  and 
despoil ;  and  with  a  company  of  men  marched 
from  the  coast  of  Florida  to  the  Mississippi 
River  near  the  present  city  of  Vicksburg, 
finding  only  savages  and  undergoing  hard 
ships  which  caused  his  death.  His  suffering 
followers,  much  reduced  in  numbers,  descend 
ed  the  ^iver  and  reached  the  Spanish  settle 
ments  in  Mexico.  In  1540  Coronado,  a 
Spanish  governor  of  northern  Mexico,  heard 
that  there  were  seven  wealthy  cities  lying  at 
the  north  of  his  country,  and  organized  an 
expedition  to  conquer  them.  He  marched  to 
the  north,  but  found,  however,  only  some 
cities  of  the  Pueblo  Indians,  and  turning 
eastward,  crossed  what  is  now  known  as  New 
Mexico  and  probably  a  part  of  Kansas,  and 
extended  his  explorations  eastward  nearly  to 
the  point  on  the  Mississippi  River  which  De 
Soto  had  reached  on  his  westward  march 
from  Florida.  Finding  none  of  the  expected 
riches,  he  returned  to  Mexico.  In  1582  Fran- 

13 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

ciscan  friars  opened  missions  in  the  valley  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  in  1598  Santa  Fe,  a  city 
of  the  Pueblo  Indians,  was  occupied  and 
made  the  seat  of  Spanish  government  in  the 
north  of  Mexico;  but  it  was  not  until  1776, 
the  year  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
that  the  Spanish  extended  their  settlements 
to  San  Francisco  on  the  Pacific  coast.  In 
1535  Spain  established  a  settlement  at  Buenos 
Ay  res  in  South  America  and  took  possession 
of  the  Plata  River,  thus  controlling  practi 
cally  all  of  South  America  except  Brazil, 
which  was  claimed  by  the  Portuguese.  In 
1526  Vasquez  de  Ay  lion,  who  had  been  on  a 
special  mission  to  Cuba,  obtained  permission 
from  the  Spanish  Government  to  establish  a 
colony  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North  Amer. 
ica,  and  planted  an  unsuccessful  Spanish  col 
ony  called  San  Miguel,  on  the  James  River, 
at  the  very  spot  where,  eighty-one  years  later, 
Jamestown  was  established  as  the  first  per 
manent  English  settlement  in  America.  In 
1565  Menendez  de  Aviles  established  the  set 
tlement  of  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  which  re 
mained  a  permanent  Spanish  settlement,  and 
was  the  first  permanent  settlement  of  Euro- 

14 


Discovery  and  Exploration 

peans  in  the  area  now  known  as  the  United 
States. 

The  Spanish  retained  their  control  of 
Florida  until  1763,  when  they  ceded  it  to 
Great  Britain  in  exchange  for  a  part  of 
Cuba,  which  that  country  had  captured ;  but 
it  was  in  1783  retroceded  by  Great  Britain  to 
the  Spanish,  and  in  1819  it  was  sold  by 
Spain  to  the  United  States.  The  Spanish 
retained  possession  of  Mexico,  which  ex 
tended  as  far  north  as  the  present  northern 
boundary  of  California,  until  1822,  when  a 
popular  uprising  drove  out  the  Spanish  offi 
cials  and  the  Republic  of  Mexico  was  es 
tablished  in  1823.  A  series  of  revolutions 
against  Spanish  control,  which  had  been  be 
gun  in  South  America  in  1810,  was  finally 
successful  in  1824,  and  in  1825  the  people 
of  Central  America  also  established  a  repub 
lic,  thus  terminating  Spanish  control  on  the 
mainland  of  America.  In  1898  the  United 
States,  moved  by  the  cruelties  of  the  Span 
ish  Government  against  Cuba,  compelled 
Spain  to  relinquish  control  of  that  island 
and  Porto  Eico,  and  aided  Cuba  in  organ 
izing  an  independent  republican  govern- 

15 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

merit,  thus  terminating   Spanish   control   in 
America. 

The  work  of  Spain  on  the  American  con 
tinent  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words. 
The  establishment  of  settlements  or  colonies 
began  with  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus  and 
was  rapidly  extended  during  the  following 
half  century.  Before  the  English  or  French 
or  Dutch  had  founded  a  single  colony  in 
the  new  world,  the  Spanish  had  overrun  and 
taken  possession  of  the  West  Indian  Islands, 
Florida,  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  prac 
tically  all  of  South  America  except  Brazil. 
Their  control  and  operations,  however,  were 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  wealth  rather 
than  of  establishing  colonies  and  permanent 
homes  for  their  people.  They  ravaged  the 
territory  which  they  occupied,  despoiled  the 
natives  of  their  accumulated  wealth,  destroyed 
their  cities,  took  possession  of  their  mines, 
and  enslaved  the  population  for  their  opera 
tion  and  for  the  operation  of  their  sugar 
plantations  in  the  West  Indian  Islands,  the 
only  section  of  their  great  American  posses 
sions  in  which  agriculture  was  extensively 
developed  by  them. 

16 


UN 


Discovery  and  Exploration 


PORTUGUESE  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION 

Portugal  was  the  next  country  after  Spain 
to  establish  permanent  settlements  in  Amer 
ica.  A  Portuguese  fleet  starting  for  India 
via  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  in  the 
year  1500,  by  some  miscalculation  sailed  far 
ther  west  than  intended  and  discovered  the 
eastern  coast  of  South  America,  and  took  pos 
session  in  the  name  of  the  Portuguese  Govern 
ment.  No  attempt  at  settlement  was  made, 
however,  until  1532,  when  a  colony  was  plant 
ed  south  of  the  present  site  of  Bio  de  Janeiro, 
and  other  colonies  soon  followed.  That  set 
tlement  remained  a  successful  Portuguese 
colony  for  many  years,  its  gold,  diamonds, 
and  plantations  proving  a  source  of  great 
wealth  to  Portugal.  When  the  Portuguese 
prince  regent,  John  VI,  was  compelled  to  flee 
from  the  armies  of  Napoleon  in  1808  he  estab 
lished  the  seat  of  Portuguese  government  in 
Brazil,  remaining  there  until  1821,  when  he 
returned  to  Portugal  as  king,  leaving  his  son, 
Don  Pedro,  as  prince  regent  of  Brazil ;  but 
the  prince  soon  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  movement  for  independence,  and  in  the  fol- 

17 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

lowing  year  was  proclaimed  the  head  of  the 
independent  empire  of  Brazil,  which  in  turn 
became  a  republic  in  1889,  ending  Portuguese 
government  in  America. 

FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH  EXPLORATION 

During  the  period  in  which  Spain  and 
Portugal  were  taking  possession  of  America 
from  Florida  southward  two  other  nations 
were  busy  exploring  and  studying  the  eastern 
coast  of  North  America  from  Florida  north 
ward.  These  two  nations  were  England  and 
France.  They  began  these  explorations  with 
in  a  few  years  following  the  discovery,  partly 
in  an  effort  to  find  a  northwest  passage  to 
Asia,  partly  in  the  hope  of  discovering  valu 
able  minerals,  and  partly  in  the  general  spirit 
of  adventure.  Soon  the  value  of  the  fisheries 
near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  became 
known  and  proved  a  great  attraction  to  the 
people  of  those  countries,  and  especially  to 
those  accustomed  to  maritime  occupations.  In 
this  manner  the  English  and  French  gradu 
ally  became  acquainted  with  the  coast  from 
Florida  to  a  point  far  north  of  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  Efforts  to  plant  colonies 

18 


Discovery  and  Exploration 

began  as  early  as  1534-35  by  the  French, 
Cartier  spending  a  winter  at  a  point  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  which  he  named  Mont-Real,  and 
another  effort  was  made  by  him  in  1541  near 
Quebec.  Twenty  years  later  efforts  were 
made  by  the  French  to  establish  colonies  on 
the  St.  Johns  river  in  Florida,  naming  the 
country  Carolina,  in  honor  of  the  boy  king, 
Charles  IX,  but  the  efforts  were  unsuccessful. 
Other  efforts  were  made  in  Nova  Scotia  and 
along  the  St.  Lawrence  later  in  the  century, 
but  were  unsuccessful,  owing  chiefly  to  the 
fact  that  the  persons  sent  as  colonists  were 
largely  of  the  pauper  and  criminal  classes  and 
devoid  of  the  sterling  qualities  which  were 
required  for  success  in  a  new  land. 

The  English  also  made  slow  progress  in 
attempts  at  colonization.  Many  English  ves 
sels  visited  America  following  Cabot's  voyage 
in  1497,  and  by  1570  from  thirty  to  fifty  ves 
sels  went  every  year  to  the  Newfoundland 
fishing  banks,  while  many  others  cruised  along 
the  eastern  coast  of  America  in  search  of  gold, 
seeking  a  northwest  passage  to  India,  or  on 
buccaneering  expeditions.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  establish  a  permanent  settlement 

19 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

at  Newfoundland  in  1579,  but  it  was  not  suc 
cessful.  In  1585  another  effort  was  made 
farther  south,  at  Roanoke  Island,  North  Caro 
lina,  but  the  colonists  hastened  back  to  Eng 
land  at  the  first  opportunity.  In  1587  Lord 
Raleigh,  who  had  made  unsuccessful  attempts 
to  establish  colonies  in  Newfoundland  in  1579 
and  at  Roanoke  Island  in  1585,  sent  another 
party  to  Roanoke  Island,  with  John  White 
as  governor.  Among  the  colonists  were  Gov 
ernor  White's  daughter,  Eleanor  Dare,  and 
her  husband,  and  on  August  18th  of  that  year 
(1587)  she  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  the  first 
child  of  English  parents  born  in  America. 
This  child  was  given  the  name  of  Virginia, 
the  name  by  which  that  part  of  America  had 
been  designated  in  honor  of  the  virgin  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Governor  White  soon  left  for 
England  to  obtain  supplies,  but  his  return 
was  delayed  by  war  troubles  at  home  until 
1591,  when  he  found  only  the  ruins  of  the 
buildings  and  no  traces  of  any  of  the  colonists, 
and  all  attempts  to  find  them  were  unavailing. 
Rumors  were  afterward  heard  that  members 
of  the  colony  still  existed  among  the  Indian 
tribes,  but  none  of  them  was  ever  found,  and 
20 


Discovery  and  Exploration 

the  fate  of  Virginia  Dare,  the  first  child  born 
in  America  of  English  parents,  is  unknown. 

All  of  the  efforts  at  colonization  made  by 
the  English  and  French  between  the  discov 
ery  in  1492  and  the  year  1607  were  failures, 
chiefly  because  of  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
territory  and  the  selection  of  a  class  of  peo 
ple  unsuited  by  training  and  disposition  to 
undergo  the  hardships  and  apply  the  persist 
ent  labor  and  energy  necessary  to  overcome 
the  adverse  conditions  of  climate  and  sur 
roundings  among  the  savages.  The  Spanish 
were  more  successful,  because  they  had 
chanced  to  make  their  efforts  in  a  part  of  the 
country  having  a  less  rigorous  climate  and 
inhabited  by  prosperous  but  physically  weak 
nations  whom  they  were  readily  able  to  over 
come  and  rob  of  both  their  labor  and  their 
accumulations  of  gold  and  silver. 

The  century  of  study  of  America  and  the 
experiments  at  colonization  made  during  that 
time  finally  taught  the  English  and  French 
something  of  the  difficulties  of  the  task  and 
the  class  of  people  necessary  for  this  work. 
By  the  year  1600  both  nations  had  begun  to 
realize  that  if  they  were  to  accomplish  any- 
21 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

thing  in  America  they  must  utilize  people  of 
energy,  perseverance,  and  having  some  defi 
nite  and  well-developed  motive.  The  French 
chose  for  their  medium  of  success  a  combina 
tion  of  religion  and  commercialism,  a  part  of 
the  people  sent  to  America  being  Catholic 
priests,  who  entered  zealously  upon  the 
work  of  carrying  their  religion  among  the 
savages,  while  traders  were  authorized  to 
operate  among  the  Indians  in  the  purchase  of 
furs  in  exchange  for  merchandise  from  Eu 
rope.  By  the  explorations  of  these  two 
classes  it  was  expected  that  the  French  could 
extend  their  claims  to  American  territory,  as 
they  subsequently  did.  Hence  the  French 
settlements  established  after  1600  partook 
more  of  the  nature  of  missions  or  trading 
posts  than  of  colonies.  The  English  selected 
as  their  method  of  controlling  the  country 
the  establishment  of  groups  of  people  of  a 
class  who  would  attempt  to  make  permanent 
homes  for  themselves,  to  cultivate  the  soil, 
and  thus  render  themselves  self-supporting, 
and  provide  for  a  gradual  enlargement  of  the 
area  occupied  and  of  their  control  of  the 
country  and  people. 

22 


POSSESSIONS 
BY  DISCOVERY. 


Longitude    82"  West  froui 7?°      Greenwich 


23 


SECOND  PEKIOD 

COLONIZATION 

THE  English  having  learned  by  their  ex 
plorations  and  experiments  during  the  six 
teenth  century  that  colonization  in  the  New 
World  was  a  serious  task,  set  seriously  about 
it  shortly  after  the  year  1600.  In  1606  King 
James  chartered  an  organization  whose  avowed 
purpose  was  to  plant  colonies  in  America. 
A  part  of  this  organization  was  composed  of 
London  merchants  and  a  part  of  traders  and 
gentlemen  located  at  Plymouth,  in  the  west 
of  England.  The  organization  was  divided 
in  two  sections — that  composed  of  London 
merchants  being  called  "The  London  Com 
pany,"  the  other,  composed  of  those  residing 
at  Plymouth,  was  called  "  The  Plymouth  Com 
pany  "  —and  they  seem  to  have  operated  alto 
gether  independently  of  each  other.  The 
London  Company  was  authorized  to  plant 
colonies  between  the  thirty -fourth  and  forty- 

24 


Colonization 

first  parallels  of  latitude,  or  between  what 
is  now  "the  southern  limit  of  North  Carolina 
and  the  southern  line  of  Connecticut.  The 
Plymouth  Company  was  authorized  to  plant 
colonies  between  the  thirty-eighth  and  forty- 
fifth  parallels,  or  between  a  point  just  north 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac  and  Eastport  at 
the  extreme  eastern  point  of  Maine.  Their 
assignments  of  area,  it  will  be  seen,  over 
lapped  each  other,  but  this  was  adjusted 
by  later  action. 

JAMESTOWN,  1607 

The  London  Company  was  more  active 
than  its  Western  England  associate,  and  in 
the  very  year  of  its  organization  sent  out  a 
colony  of  a  little  above  one  hundred  men  to 
settle  at  or  near  Roanoke  Island.  They 
sailed  in  December,  1606,  sighted  land  in 
April,  1607,  entered  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
naming  the  capes  at  its  mouth  Henry  and 
Charles  after  the  king's  sons,  and  ascended  a 
river  which  they  called  the  James  after  the 
king  himself.  On  May  13  they  landed  at  a 
point  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth,  and  there 
planted  the  first  permanent  colony  of  Eng- 

25 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

lishmen  in  America.  Curiously  the  spot  se 
lected  was  the  very  one  on  which  De  Ayllon, 
the  Spanish  commander,  had  located  his  un 
successful  colony  of  San  Miguel  in  1526, 
eighty-one  years  earlier,  though  there  is  no 
evidence  that  this  fact  was  known  to  the 
English  when  they  selected  this  spot.  The 
colony  had  a  hard  time  for  years,  and  the 
survivors  were  on  the  point  of  abandoning 
Jamestown  to  seek  food  among  the  fishermen 
of  Newfoundland  when  a  vessel  arrived  with 
supplies  and  the  colony  was  made  permanent, 
and  by  additions  from  time  to  time  began 
to  slowly  expand. 

FRENCH  COLONIZATION  BEGUN 

The  very  next  year  (1608)  the  French 
established  their  first  permanent  settlement 
in  America,  locating  it  at  the  present  Quebec, 
but,  like  most  of  the  French  "  colonies,"  it  was 
a  mere  trading  post,  set  up  chiefly  for  the 
purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians  and 
establishing  the  claim  of  France  to  the  sur 
rounding  territory.  In  1611  they  established 
a  post  at  what  is  now  Montreal,  and  their 
fur-traders  and  missionaries  began  to  explore 

26 


FRENCH 
EXPLORATIONS  AND  POSTS. 


Marqnette  &  Jolief  8  Route, 
In  1673. 

La  Sailed    Route    to    Ft 
Crevecreur  and  return,  1679. 
La  Salle's  Route  from  Ft  St. 
Louis  to  the  Gulf,  1C82. 
Hennepin's  Route,  1680. 


GULF      OP      MEXICO 


27 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  interior,  following  the  Ottawa  Kiver  from 
Montreal  to  the  west,  and  by  1615  had 
reached  Lake  Huron,  having  selected  this 
northern  route  to  the  interior  because  the 
countiy  along  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie  was  occupied  by  hostile  In 
dian  tribes,  the  Iroquois.  The  name  "  Cana 
da  "  was  given  to  the  country  along  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  by  the  early  French  explor 
ers,  and  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
Indians. 

PLYMOUTH,  1620 

The  next  step  in  permanent  colonization 
was  by  a  group  of  English  people  who  had 
removed  from  England  to  Holland  because  of 
dissatisfaction  with  the  established  state  re 
ligion  of  England.  This  state  religion  of  Eng 
land,  while  Protestant,  retained  certain  fea 
tures  of  the  Catholic  rituals  with  which  some 
of  the  people  were  dissatisfied,  and  the  various 
bands  who  opposed  it  were  known  as  Inde 
pendents,  Puritans,  Dissenters,  etc.  Many  of 
them  had  left  England  for  Holland  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  in  1620  a  little  band  of 
Independents  determined  to  remove  from 
Holland  to  America,  where  they  could  have 

28 


Colonization 

both  freedom  of  worship  and  establish  per 
manent  homes  for  themselves.  They  ob 
tained  a  grant  of  land  from  the  London 
Company,  intending  to  settle  between  the 
Hudson  and  the  Delaware  Rivers.  The  cap 
tain  of  their  vessel  professed,  however,  not 
to  be  able  to  proceed  so  far  south  on  account 
of  adverse  winds,  and  they  landed,  December 
22,  1620,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Cape  Cod, 
a  short  distance  south  of  the  present  city 
of  Boston,  and  within  the  territory  of  the 
Plymouth  Company,  from  which  they  sub 
sequently  obtained  a  patent.  They  experi 
enced  great  suffering  that  winter,  but  the 
next  year  fifty  more  Englishmen  came  out 
from  Holland,  and  in  the  following  year 
thirty  more,  and  thus  the  colony,  which  was 
called  Plymouth,  became  permanent.  Many 
years  later,  in  1691,  it  was  united  with  the 
Massachusetts  colony  and  ceased  to  exist  as 
a  separate  colony. 

DUTCH  COLONIES  ON  THE  HUDSON 

Meantime  the  Dutch  had  begun  to  exhibit 
an  interest  in  America.  A  Dutch  exploring 
expedition  under  Captain  Hendrick  Hudson, 

29 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

searching  for  a  passage  through  America  to 
India,  had  sailed  up  the  river  now  known  as 
the  Hudson  in  1609,  two  years  after  the 
English  settlement  at  Jamestown,  and  one 
year  after  the  French  settlement  at  Quebec, 
and  soon  Holland  set  up  a  claim  to  that  part 
of  America,  calling  it  New  Netherlands,  and 
naming  the  river  after  its  explorer,  Hudson. 
Some  of  their  fur-traders  built  huts  near 
where  New  York  is  now  located  as  early  as 
1615.  In  that  year  the  Dutch  Government 
chartered  the  New  Netherlands  Trading  Com 
pany,  granting  it  trading  privileges  in  New 
Netherlands,  and  it  was  succeeded  in  1621 
by  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  In 
1624  this  company  sent  thirty  families  to 
found  a  colony  on  the  Hudson.  Part  of 
them  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  near 
where  New  York  now  stands,  and  a  part 
went  up  the  river  to  the  present  site  of  Al 
bany,  establishing  a  fort  which  they  called 
Fort  Orange.  A  few  also  went  to  a  point  on 
the  Delaware,  not  far  from  the  present  site 
of  Philadelphia,  and  another  party  settled  on 
the  north  side  of  Long  Island  Sound,  in 
what  is  now  Connecticut.  Additions  were 

30 


EARLY  COLONIAL  GRANTS 


60      100  20)  300 

LonirttuiU    West     Tb°  from    Greenwich  TTl 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

made  to  these  small  groups  from  time  to 
time,  and  the  Dutch  took  possession  of  both 
sides  of  the  Hudson  River  and  from  New 
York  (or  New  Amsterdam,  as  it  was  then 
called)  south  to  Delaware  Bay.  They  re 
tained  their  control  until  1664,  when  Eng 
land,  claiming  the  title  of  the  country  by 
discovery  prior  to  that  of  the  Dutch,  sent 
out  a  small  fleet  and  took  possession  of  New 
Amsterdam  and  of  the  colonies,  calling  the 
town  and  the  colony  New  York,  after  the 
county  and  city  of  York,  England,  and  in 
compliment  to  the  Duke  of  York,  who  was 
made  proprietor  of  the  conquered  territory. 
Fort  Orange  was  named  Albany,  in  honor  of 
the  duke's  second  title,  Albany. 

THE  MASSACHUSETTS  COLONY 

Eight  years  after  the  Plymouth  colonists 
established  themselves  on  the  bleak  coast  of 
Cape  Cod  they  had  neighbors.  A  new  settle 
ment  was  established  just  beside  them  at 
Salem,  near  the  present  site  of  Boston,  in 
1628.  The  people  had  been  sent  out  by  a 
company  chartered  as  the  "Governor  and 
County  of  Massachusetts  Bay,"  and  the  col- 

32 


Colonization 

ony  thus  came  to  be  known  as  the  Massa 
chusetts  Colony.  As  it  increased  in  num 
bers,  separate  settlements  or  "congregations" 
were  organized,  and  in  1630  Boston  became 
the  capital  of  the  colony,  which  proved  suc 
cessful  from  the  first,  and  received  additions 
of  about  1,000  from  England  in  that  year 
alone.  The  people  composing  this  colony 
were  chiefly  of  the  class  known  as  Puritans, 
as  already  described. 

THE  MARYLAND  COLONY 

Neighbors  also  came  to  the  Virginia  col 
ony  about  this  time.  In  1634  a  party  of 
about  200  English  arrived  and  located  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Potomac,  about  seventy- 
five  miles  north  of  Jamestown.  They  came 
under  a  charter  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore, 
who  had  given  the  colony  the  name  of  Mary 
land,  in  honor  of  the  queen,  Henrietta  Maria. 
The  land  granted  to  this  colony  was  within 
the  limits  claimed  by  the  Virginia  colony, 
and  this  fact,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the 
Maryland  colonists  were  chiefly  Catholics, 
led  to  sharp  differences,  and  for  some  years 
their  relations  were  not  altogether  of  a  neigh- 

33 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

borly  character.  However,  the  Maryland 
colony  continued  to  exist,  and  increased  in 
numbers  and  area  occupied. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  RHODE  ISLAND,   CONNECTICUT 

After  these  four  English  colonies  of  Vir 
ginia,  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  Mary 
land  had  been  firmly  established,  the  process 
of  colonization  or  settlement  developed  by 
another  method.  Little  groups  of  people, 
dissatisfied  for  one  cause  or  another,  left  the 
original  colonies,  and  wandering  off  into  the 
forests,  established  colonies  or  settlements  for 
themselves,  and  having  formed  a  nucleus, 
were  joined  by  people  from  England.  Settle 
ments  of  fishermen  and  others  were  made 
about  100  miles  north  of  Plymouth  in  1623, 
and  in  1629  John  Mason,  of  England,  who 
had  some  years  earlier  obtained  a  patent  for 
the  land,  took  control  of  the  section  and 
called  it  New  Hampshire,  after  his  home 
county  of  Hampshire,  England.  The  scat 
tered  settlements  increased  partly  by  acces 
sions  from  England,  and  were  known  as  New 
Hampshire  and  the  area  as  the  New  Hamp 
shire  Grants  until  1641,  when  they  united 

34 


Colonization 


with  the  Massachusetts  colony  ;  but  in 
were  made  a  separate  royal  province.  The 
colony  was  reunited  with  Massachusetts  in 
1685,  but  was  afterward  again  established  as 
a  separate  province,  and  finally  became  defi 
nitely  one  of  the  American  colonies.  In 
1C)  3  5  a  handful  of  people  removed  from 
Plymouth-  to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  were  soon  followed  by  others 
from  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  estab 
lishing  the  settlements  of  Hartford  and  New 
Haven,  which  were  strengthened  by  acces 
sions  from  England,  and  were  afterward 
united  as  the  colony  of  Connecticut.  In 
1636  Roger  Williams,  a  minister  whose  ex 
treme  views  did  not  suit  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  was  banished  from  that  col 
ony  and  established  the  settlement  of  Provi 
dence.  Others,  driven  from  Massachusetts 
and  Plymouth,  established  the  settlements  of 
Newport  and  Portsmouth,  and  they  were 
subsequently  united  under  the  title  of  the 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations, 
receiving  accessions  both  from  the  other  col 
onies  and  from  England. 


35 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

NEW  YORK,  NEW  JERSEY,  AND  DELAWARE 

In  1664,  as  already  related,  the  British 
drove  out  the  Dutch  from  the  Hudson  River 
territory,  and  taking  possession,  gave  to  the 
settlements  the  name  of  New  York.  They 
also  took  possession  of  the  territory  along 
the  coast  from  New  York  to  the  Delaware, 
which  had  also  been  held  by  the  Dutch,  and 
this  was  granted  to  Sir  George  Carteret,  for 
mer  governor  and  defender  of  the  British 
Isle  of  Jersey,  and  called  New  Jersey  in  his 
honor.  As  the  Dutch  had  also  held  a  small 
strip  of  country  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Delaware  River  (which  was  claimed  by  Lord 
Baltimore  as  a  part  of  his  grant  of  Maryland), 
the  English  also  took  possession  of  that,  al 
though  Lord  Baltimore  again  insisted  that  it 
belonged  to  him.  It  was  subsequently  sold 
to  William  Penn,  but  still  later  established  as 
the  colony  of  Delaware.  All  of  these  areas, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware,  had 
a  considerable  Dutch  population,  and  in  New 
Jersey  was  also  a  settlement  of  Swedes,  and 
to  this  was  soon  added  English,  some  from 
the  adjacent  colonies  and  some  from  England. 

36 


Colonization 

THE  CAROLINAS 

Meantime  the  disposition  of  the  Virginia 
settlers  to  extend  their  settlements  into  the 
surrounding  country,  outside  of  the  area 
granted  to  the  original  colonies,  had  made 
itself  apparent.  The  French  had  planted  col 
onies  of  Huguenots  in  the  south  in  1562, 
and  called  the  country  Carolina,  in  honor  of 
the  boy  King  of  France,  Charles  IX;  but, 
although  they  were  quickly  driven  out  by 
the  Spanish,  the  country  was  thereafter 
known  by  the  name  of  "Carolina."  Into 
this  country  parties  of  settlers  from  Virginia 
made  their  way,  and  the  first  permanent  set 
tlement  of  North  Carolina  was  made  at  the 
place  subsequently  called  Albemarle,  by  a 
party  from  Virginia  in  1653.  In  1664  a  party 
of  English  from  the  Island  of  Barbados  set 
tled  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  the  settlement 
subsequently  receiving  the  name  of  Claren 
don,  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  per 
manent  settlement  of  South  Carolina.  These 
two  names  of  Albemarle  and  Clarendon  were 
given  to  these  settlements  in  honor  of  the 
Earl  of  Clarendon  and  Duke  of  .Albemarle, 
members  of  an  English  company  to  which 

37 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Carolina  had  been  granted  in  1663.  To  the 
settlements  thus  created  additions  were  made 
from  Virginia,  from  New  England,  from  the 
English  settlements  in  the  Bahamas  and  Bar 
bados  islands,  and  from  England.  These  two 
colonies,  however,  made  very  slow  growth  com 
pared  with  that  of  the  others  during  the  first 
half  century  of  their  existence. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

Lying  between  the  colony  of  Virginia  at 
the  south  and  the  area  held  by  the  Dutch  on 
the  Hudson  was  a  section  of  country  which 
had  received  little  attention  when  the  Eng 
lish  took  possession  of  the  New  Netherlands 
territory,  and  formed  the  colonies  or  prov 
inces  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Dela 
ware.  This  area  soon  began  to  attract  atten 
tion.  In  1681  William  Penn,  an  English 
Quaker,  asked  that  it  be  granted  to  him  in 
settlement  of  a  claim  of  his  father,  a  former 
admiral  in  the  English  navy,  and  this  was 
done.  He  proposed  to  establish  a  popular 
government,  based  upon  principles  of  exact 
justice,  and  offered  his  land  at  the  low  price 
of  two  pounds  sterling  for  100  acres,  or 

38 


Colonization 

about  ten  cents  per  acre,  and  within  a  short 
time  his  colony  was  established,  the  name 
Pennsylvania,  or  Penn's  Forest,  having  been 
given  to  it  by  the  king  himself.  Quakers, 
Swedes,  Dutch,  Germans,  Welsh,  and  Eng 
lish  flocked  in,  some  from  their  homes  in 
Europe  and  some  from  the  surrounding  colo 
nies  and  settlements,  and  Pennsylvania  soon 
became  a  flourishing  colony. 

GEORGIA 

No  more  separate  colonies  were  formed 
after  Pennsylvania  until  1733,  when  James 
Oglethorpe,  a  member  of  the  British  Parlia 
ment,  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a 
colony  between  the  Carolinas  and  Florida  to 
furnish  a  home  for  the  unfortunate  debtor 
class  of  England.  A  charter  was  granted  to 
him  and  others,  and  the  country  was  called 
Georgia,  in  honor  of  King  George  II.  The 
debtors  transported  to  the  colony,  however, 
proved  to  be  unsuited  to  the  surroundings 
and  the  requirements  of  the  situation,  and 
parties  of  Scotch  Highlanders  and  German 
Protestants  were  brought,  but  the  colony 
remained  one  of  the  weakest  for  many  years. 
4  39 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

This   was    the    last    colony   established    in 
America  by  the  English. 

Thus  the  period  from  1607  to  about  1750 
was  devoted  by  the  English  to  the  planting 
and  slow  development  of  their  thirteen  colo 
nies,  and  by  1750  they  claimed  and  occupied 
with  scattering  settlements  all  of  the  Atlan 
tic  coast  from  Florida  on  the  south  to  the 
valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  at  the  north. 
The  charters  under  which  the  colonies  had 
been  organized  and  put  into  operation  in 
some  cases  purported  to  extend  from  ocean 
to  ocean,  especially  in  the  case  of  Virginia, 
Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut,  while  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  also 
claimed  territory  as  far  west  as  the  Missis 
sippi. 

FROM  1607  TO  1750 

More  than  one  hundred  years  were  occu 
pied  in  the  establishment  of  the  thirteen  colo. 
nies,  which  subsequently  became  the  United 
States  of  America.  The  first,  Virginia,  was 
planted  in  1607,  the  last,  Georgia,  in  1733, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  years  later.  The 
population  of  Virginia  in  1600  was  about 
15,000,  and  that  of  all  the  thirteen  English 
40 


41 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

colonies  probably  about  60,000.  By  1700 
the  population  of  all  the  colonies  was  about 
250,000,  and  by  1750,  1,250,000.  By  1750 
the  thirteen  English  colonies  fully  occupied 
all  the  area  fronting  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
from  the  Spanish  territory  of  Florida  to  the 
French  territory  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Up 
to  about  that  time  the  English  had  made 
little  attempt  to  extend  their  settlement  be 
yond  the  Alleghanies,  though  the  older  colo 
nies — Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecti 
cut — claimed  that  their  charter  extended  "  to 
the  South  Sea,"  or,  in  other  words,  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  A  settlement  of  Virginia  was 
made  on  the  Kanawha  \vest  of  the  Allegha 
nies  in  1748,  and  in  1749  King  George 
granted  to  a  company  of  wealthy  Virginians, 
called  "  The  Ohio  Company,"  500,000  acres 
of  land  in  the  Ohio  Valley  on  the  agreement 
that  they  were  to  locate  at  least  100  families 
upon  it,  and  build  and  maintain  a  fort. 

OTHER  ENGLISH  COLONIES  IN  AMERICA 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  the  thir 
teen  colonies  whose  planting  has  been  here 
described  were  the  only  English  colonies  in 

42 


Colonization 

America.  The  English  had  meantime  estab 
lished  colonies  in  the  Bermudas,  Bahamas, 
Jamaica,  and  Honduras  on  the  south,  and 
Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland  at  the  north, 
and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  had  estab 
lished  trading  stations  in  the  Hudson  Bay 
country,  and  thus  established  a  British  claim 
to  that  territory;  but  these  were  so  far  re 
moved  from  the  thirteen  colonies  lying  be 
tween  Florida  and  the  St.  Lawrence  that 
they  had  little  relationship  with  them,  and 
little  of  interest  in  common  with  them. 

FRENCH   AND    ENGLISH    CLAIM    THE    MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY 

Meantime  the  French  had  not  been  idle. 
Their  explorers,  fur-traders,  and  missionaries 
had  pushed  west  through  the  wilderness 
from  Quebec  and  Montreal  along  the  Otta 
wa  River  to  Lake  Huron  in  1615.  They 
soon  crossed  the  river  which  connects  Huron 
with  Superior,  and  pushed  westward  in  1634 
in  the  area  now  known  as  Wisconsin  and  Illi 
nois.  In  1641  Jesuit  priests  said  mass  in 
the  presence  of  2,000  Indians  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie.  In  1673  Joliet  and  Marquette  ex- 

43 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory- 
tended  their  explorations  through  "Wisconsin 
to  the  Mississippi  River,  and  down  that 
stream  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  and  in 
the  period  from  1678  to  1682  La  Salle  ex 
plored  Lake  Michigan,  crossed  from  the  site 
of  Chicago  to  the  Illinois  River,  and  then 
descended  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  establishing  the  claim  of 
the  French  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
by  reason  of  discovery  and  exploration. 
Thus,  although  the  French  population  in 
America  was  not  more  than  one-tenth  that  of 
the  English,  and  although  their  base  of  oper 
ation  occupied  an  inhospitable  climate  and 
region,  they  had  drawn  a  cordon  of  explora 
tions  and  claims  to  territory  around  the  Eng 
lish  colonies  at  the  north  and  west  and  along 
the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Great  Lakes,  and  the 
Mississippi  River,  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law 
rence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  during  the  pe 
riod  in  which  the  English  were  occupying 
the  area  between  Florida  and  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  the  Atlantic  and  the  Alleghanies. 
After  the  exploration  and  establishment  of 
claims  to  this  great  stretch  of  territory  from 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  mouth 
44 


Colonization 

of  the  Mississippi,  the  French  proceeded  to 
strengthen  their  claims  by  establishing  tra 
ding  stations,  military  posts,  forts,  and  little 
communities  all  along  this  line  at  the  north 
and  west.  They  made  friends  with  the  Indi 
ans,  and  many  of  their  men  who  did  not 
bring  families  from  France  intermarried  with 
the  Indians  and  reared  half-breed  families. 
By  these  and  other  methods  they  strength 
ened  their  hold  upon  the  savage  tribes  and 
prepared  for  the  inevitable  struggle  with  the 
English  for  the  control  of  this  western  terri 
tory  which  the  English  colonists  still  claimed 
as  their  own  under  the  charters  to  Virginia, 
Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut.  By  1750 
the  French  not  only  claimed  the  line  of  ter 
ritory  along  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Great 
Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  but  all  the  terri 
tory  drained  by  them  and  by  the  rivers  emp 
tying  into  them,  including  the  Ohio,  Tennes 
see,  and  Cumberland  on  the  east,  and  the 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Red  Rivers  on  the 
west.  Thus  their  claim  to  territory  by  1750 
extended  far  to  the  north  of  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  the  Great  Lakes,  and  covered  all 
the  territory  between  the  Alleghanies  and 

45 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  Rocky  Mountains,  down  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  area  claimed  at 
the  gulf  extending  a  considerable  distance 
on  each  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Spanish  at  that  time  still  held  Florida 
and  Mexico,  claiming  the  Mexican  country 
as  far  north  as  the  head  of  the  Rio  Grande 
and  Colorado  rivers,  and  west  to  the  Pacific, 
and  still  later  they  extended  their  claim  as 
far  as  the  northern  line  of  California. 

TERRITORIAL  CLAIMS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  IN  1750 

This  was  the  general  situation  in  North 
America  in  1750.  The  English  colonies  held 
the  area  from  Florida  to  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  extending  from  the  Atlan 
tic  to  the  Alleghanies,  also  the  Hudson  Bay 
country  and  Newfoundland.  The  French 
claimed  the  territory  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
half-way  to  Hudson  Bay  at  the  north,  and 
all  the  territory  from  the  Alleghanies  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  a  wedge-shaped  area 
down  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  gulf.  The 
Spanish  held  Florida  and  Mexico,  ranging 
into  the  north  and  west  to  the  Pacific  coast. 


46 


NORTH  AMERICA 
1650. 

10°SHOWIN(J  CLAIMS  ARISING  OUT  OF  EXPLpRAJlON 
AND  OCCUPANCY. 
U_.English 
...French 
..JDutch 


•ii 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


RELATIONS  OP  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIES  PRIOR 
TO  1750 

During  the  period  from  1607  to  1750  the 
English  colonies  had  conducted  their  affairs 
independently  of  each  other.  There  had  been 
a  confederation  of  New  England  colonies  for 
the  purpose  of  mutual  defense  and  coopera 
tion  in  certain  matters,  each  colony,  however, 
continuing  to  manage  its  own  local  affairs ; 
but  after  it  had  operated  about  twenty  years, 
the  British  Government  grew  suspicious  that 
it  might  result  in  too  great  a  feeling  of  inde 
pendence,  and  sent  a  commission  over  to 
assume  control  and  administer  government, 
and  the  confederation  was  dissolved,  though 
the  commission  did  not  long  continue  as  the 
governing  power.  The  southern  colonies 
were  governed  during  most  of  the  colonial 
period  by  governors  sent  out  from  England, 
or  at  least  appointed  by  the  British  Govern 
ment,  while  during  a  large  part  of  the  period 
the  New  England  colonies  were  permitted  to 
choose  their  own  governors  from  among  their 
people ;  the  laws  and  general  regulations 
were  based  upon  English  laws  and  customs. 

48 


Colonization 

The  details  of  government  in  each  colony 
were  provided  by  legislative  bodies,  some  of 
them  "bicameral,"  or  having  two  branches 
like  our  own  present  Congress,  others  having 
but  a  single  organization.  The  purely  local 
government  was  created  and  enforced  by  local 
assemblies,  and  by  the  "town  meeting"  in 
New  England.  The  attacks  of  the  Indian 
tribes  sometimes  resulted  in  cooperation  of 
certain  colonies  for  mutual  defense,  and  on 
certain  occasions,  when  the  English  and  the 
French  governments  were  at  war  at  home, 
there  were  conflicts  between  the  French  and 
English  colonies  in  America,  the  former  util 
izing  the  Indians  to  aid  them  wherever  pos 
sible  ;  and  these  events  drew  the  English  col 
onists  closer  together,  but  without  resulting 
in  any  definite  union  or  general  plan  of  co 
operation,  though  this  had  been  proposed  on 
several  occasions. 

THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   CONTROL    OF    THE    MISSIS- 
SIPPI  VALLEY 

By  1750  it  had  become  apparent  that  the 
control  of  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  must  be  determined,  and  that  it 

49 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

probably  could  be  settled  only  by  force  of 
arms.  The  English  claimed  that  they  were 
entitled  to  control  all  of  the  territory  extend 
ing  west  from  their  colonies  to  the  Pacific, 
and  had  so  held  during  the  century  and  a 
half  since  the  charters  were  granted,  extend 
ing  "  to  the  South  Sea."  The  French  claimed 
the  area  west  of  the  Alleghanies  by  explora 
tion  and  occupancy.  The  English  colonists 
had  1,200,000  people  and  they  were  begin 
ning  to  clamor  for  the  privilege  of  occupying 
the  rich  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies ; 
and,  as  already  stated,  a  grant  of  a  half  mil 
lion  acres  had  been  made  by  King  George  in 
1749  to  the  Ohio  Company,  composed  of 
wealthy  Virginians,  including  a  brother  of 
George  Washington,  with  the  requirement 
that  they  settle  100  families  on  the  land  and 
erect  and  maintain  a  fort.  It  was  known 
that  they  would  meet  with  opposition  from 
the  French,  who  had  been  exploring  the 
Ohio  Valley,  planting  leaden  plates  with  in 
scriptions  indicating  their  claim  to  the  terri 
tory,  and  establishing  posts  and  forts  where 
practicable.  The  British  directed  the  gov 
ernors  "  to  repel  force  by  force  whenever  the 

50 


51 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

French  are  found  within  undoubted  limits 
of  your  province,"  and  the  same  spirit  pre 
vailed  with  reference  to  the  territory  claimed 
by  each  of  the  colonies.  George  Washington, 
a  young  surveyor,  was  sent  out  to  survey  and 
locate  the  land  granted  to  the  Ohio  Com 
pany.  The  company,  seeing  that  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela 
rivers,  the  present  site  of  Pittsburg,  was  an 
important  strategic  point,  determined  to  take 
possession  of  it,  and  in  October,  1753,  George 
Washington  was  sent  by  the  Governor  of 
Virginia  to  warn  the  French  not  to  occupy 
that  spot.  In  December  he  returned  and  re 
ported  that  while  the  French  had  treated 
him  politely,  they  had  told  him  that  they 
meant  to  take  and  hold  the  place  and  that 
they  claimed  the  entire  surrounding  territory. 
By  the  following  April  the  French  had  made 
good  their  statement,  had  sent  1,200  men  to 
the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  Mononga 
hela,  had  driven  off  the  forty  Englishmen 
located  there,  and  constructed  and  manned 
a  fort  which  they  called  Fort  Duquesne. 
Washington  was  sent  to  the  scene  of  action 
with  a  small  body  of  troops,  and  in  May, 

52 


Colonization 

1754,  an  encounter  between  his  force  and  a 
body  of  the  French  occurred.  The  English 
were  successful  in  the  first  encounter,  but  by 
July  the  French  had  rallied  their  forces  and 
Washington  was  forced  to  retire.  A  final 
contest  between  the  French  and  English  for 
the  final  control  of  the  country  west  of  the 
Alleghanies  was  thus  begun. 

From  the  first  the  French  were  at  a  great 
disadvantage.  They  had  in  all  America  but 
80,000  of  their  own  people,  while  the  English 
in  the  colonies  numbered  1,200,000,  or  fifteen 
times  as  many.  The  French  relied  largely 
upon  the  cooperation  of  the  Indians,  and  had 
it  at  first,  but  as  the  tide  began  to  turn 
against  them  they  lost  much  of  the  aid  of 
their  savage  allies.  At  home  the  French 
had  a  larger  army  than  the  English,  but  the 
latter  were  better  equipped  at  sea.  The  con 
test  between  the  colonies  in  America  soon 
led  to  a  declaration  of  war  between  the  home 
governments  of  England  and  France.  This, 
however,  again  resulted  disadvantageously 
for  the  French  in  America  because  the  home 
government  of  France  directed  most  of  its 
forces  against  the  British  in  Europe  and 

53 


NORTH  AMERICA 
1750. 

10°8KOWINQ  CLAIMS  ARISING  OUT  OF  EXPLORATION 
AND  OCCUPANCY, 

r~~] English 

{~3— French 
ISS^-j .Spanish 

-  .8CAI.E   OF    MILES  »  f 

i ,          .    ,        ,    ,        '  -  .  .  o 


<oo     1000 

)  Longitude  Went    00°  from   Grxawlrh  Bf 


54 


W 


Colonization 

India,  where  both  governments  were  claim 
ing  important  areas,  and  the  French  Govern 
ment  sent  only  5,000  troops  to  America.  The 
English  sent  a  much  larger  force  and  a  strong 
fleet,  and  had,  besides,  the  troops  raised  in 
the  colonies  whose  population  was  1,200,000, 
against  a  population  of  80,000  in  the  French 
colonies.  Although  the  French  held  out  four 
years  against  these  fearful  odds,  they  were 
finally 


THE  FRENCH  DRIVEN  OFF  THE  CONTINENT 

The  result  of  the  struggle  was  that  the 
English  not  only  gained  the  territory  in  dis 
pute,  that  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  but  also 
that  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  they  had 
not  claimed.  The  peace  treaty  between  France 
and  England,  by  which  the  war  was  termi 
nated,  made  in  1763,  gave  to  England  all  the 
French  possessions  and  claims  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  including  Canada  with  a 
French  population  of  70,000.  France  had 
the  year  before,  seeing  that  she  was  doomed 
to  defeat  in  America,  ceded  to  Spain  her 
claims  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  including 
the  city  of  New  Orleans  on  its  eastern  bank. 
5  55 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Thus  the  entire  territory  claimed  by  France 
on  the  continent  of  America  passed  from  her 
possession.  Spain,  which  was  also  a  party  to 
the  treaty  of  1763,  gave  Florida  to  England 


TERRITORIAL  DIVISION  AFTER  THE  WITHDRAWAL  OF  THE 
FRENCH  BY  THE  TREATY  OF  1763. 

in  exchange  for  Cuba,  which  the  latter  had 
captured ;  and,  as  a  result  of  that  treaty,  Eng 
land  controlled  all  the  territory  east  of  the 
Mississippi  Kiver,  except  New  Orleans. 


56 


THIKD  PEEIOD 

INDEPENDENCE  AND   UNION 

THE  result  of  the  war  between  the  Eng 
lish  colonies  and  those  of  the  French  was  far 
different  from  that  intended  or  expected  by 
the  British  Government.  While  it  relieved 
its  American  possessions  of  the  constant 
menace  of  the  French,  who  were  drawing  a 
line  of  forts  and  territorial  claims  on  the 
north  and  west,  and  greatly  increased  the 
British  area  in  America,  it  also  at  the  same 
time  drew  the  colonies  into  much  closer  rela 
tionship  than  had  ever  before  existed,  and 
prepared  them  for  a  struggle  for  independ 
ence,  which  was  soon  to  follow.  The  offi 
cers  and  men  of  the  colonial  troops  from  the 
various  sections  of  colonial  America  had  in 
termingled  and  there  was  a  new  feeling  of 
common  purposes  and  common  rights.  This 
feeling  was  strengthened  and  turned  against 
the  government  of  the  mother  country  by 
events  which  soon  followed  the  peace  of  1763. 

57 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


TROUBLE  BETWEEN  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIES  AND 
THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 

No  sooner  had  the  war  between  the  Eng 
lish  and  the  French  ended  than  the  British 
Government  determined  to  carry  out  plans, 
which  it  had  considered  before  the  war  be 
gan,  for  the  enforcement  of  the  "  navigation 
lawrs  "  in  the  colonies.  These  laws  required 
that  all  trade  of  the  colonies  should  be  with 
the  mother  country  or  with  other  British 
colonies  and  should  be  carried  in  British 
or  colonial  vessels.  It  was  also  determined 
that  certain  articles  produced  in  the  colonies 
should  be  sent  only  to  English  ports,  and 
prohibitory  duties  were  laid  on  sugar  and 
molasses  from  foreign  countries  or  colonies, 
so  as  to  compel  the  American  colonies  to 
purchase  their  sugar  from  England  or  from 
the  British  colonies  where  sugar  w^as  pro 
duced.  These  measures  interfered  greatly 
with  the  profitable  trade  of  the  American 
colonies  with  the  wealthy  Spanish  colonies 
in  the  West  Indies.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
British  Government  determined  to  locate 
about  10,000  troops  permanently  in  the  col- 

58 


Independence  and   Union 


onies  and  to  levy  a  small  tax  on  the  colonies 
with  which  to  bear  a  part  of  the  expenses  of 
maintaining  the  troops.  This  tax  at  first 
took  the  form  of  an  act  requiring  revenue 
stamps  issued  by  the  British  Government  to 
be  affixed  to  certain  papers  used  in  legal  and 
commercial  transactions  in  the  American  col 
onies.  These  rates  of  taxation  were  not 
high,  but  the  colonies  protested,  asserting 
that  they  should  not  be  taxed  unless  they 
were  permitted  to  have  a  voice  in  the  man 
agement  of  the  home  government  through 
representation  in  Parliament.  Taxation, 
however  light,  without  representation,  they 
held  to  be  unjust.  Colonial  legislatures  pro 
tested  and  a  congress  of  representatives  from 
nine  colonies  met  in  New  York  (1765)  and 
adopted  an  address  to  the  home  government 
protesting  against  taxation  without  represen 
tation.  The  stamp  act  was  repealed  by  Par 
liament  in  view  of  the  protests  of  the  col 
onies,  but  the  following  year  a  measure  was 
passed  placing  a  duty  on  certain  imports  into 
the  colonies,  although  the  rates  fixed  were 
not  expected  to  produce  enough  to  bear  all 
of  the  expenses  of  the  troops  to  be  located 

59 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

in  the  colonies.  This  new  form  of  taxation 
was  as  violently  opposed  in  the  colonies  as 
the  stamp  tax  had  been,  and  organizations 
were  formed  throughout  the  colonies  for  a 
systematic  refusal  to  import  or  use  the  mer 
chandise  so  taxed.  "  Committees  of  corre 
spondence"  were  organized,  and  letters  and 
circulars  sent  throughout  the  colonies  urging 
opposition  to  taxation  without  representa 
tion,  and  also  protesting  against  the  quarter 
ing  of  troops  upon  the  colonies.  The  colo 
nial  legislative  bodies  also  protested.  The 
Parliament,  recognizing  the  vigor  of  the  oppo 
sition,  in  1770  repealed  all  of  the  taxes  ex 
cept  that  on  tea,  which  it  insisted  should  be 
collected.  This  was  opposed  by  the  colo 
nies,  upon  the  principle  that  it  was  taxation, 
no  matter  how  small,  without  representation  ; 
and  a  cargo  of  tea  on  which  duty  was  to  be 
collected  was  (1773)  thrown  overboard  by 
the  colonists  at  Boston.  This  action  and  the 
continued  protests  of  the  colonies  resulted  in 
action  by  Parliament,  which  intensified  the 
feeling  in  the  colonies.  One  act  closed  the 
port  of  Boston  to  commerce,  because  of  the 
"  tea-party  "  incident. 

60 


Independence  and  Union 


THE  NORTHERN  OHIO  VALLEY  ANNEXED  TO 
CANADA 

Another  act,  and  one  which  caused  great 
dissatisfaction  in  the  colonies,  attached  to 
the  Province  of  Quebec  all  of  the  territory 
lying  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Riv 
ers  and  the  Great  Lakes.  By  this  measure, 
enacted  by  Parliament  in  1774,  all  of  the 
country  claimed  by  Virginia,  Massachusetts, 
and  Connecticut,  lying  north  of  the  Ohio 
River  and  extending  west  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  to  the  Mississippi  River, 
was  taken  from  those  colonies,  although  it 
had  clearly  been  given  them  by  their  original 
charters.  It  had  been  originally  held  that 
the  grants  to  these  colonies,  under  the  word 
ing  "to  the  South  Sea,"  extended  their 
claims  across  the  entire  continent  to  the  Pa 
cific  ;  but  as  the  English  Government  made 
no  effort  to  enforce  its  claims  to  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  but  had  accepted  the 
Mississippi  as  its  western  boundary  by  the 
peace  treaty  with  France  in  1763,  the  colo 
nies  had  since  that  time  only  claimed  that 
their  area  extended  to  that  river.  But  they 

61 


ENGLISH  COLONIES 

1763-1775 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


62 


Independence  and  Union 

did  claim  this  most  vigorously.  It  was  held 
that  the  original  grants  had  entitled  Massa 
chusetts  and  Connecticut  to  a  broad  strip  of 
territory  fronting  on  the  Atlantic  between 
Long  Island  and  the  southern  coast  of  what 
is  now  Maine,  and  sweeping  solidly  westward 
to  the  Pacific.  As  the  New  York  and  Penn 
sylvania  colonies  had  been  established  over  a 
portion  of  this,  and  the  English  Government 
had  given  up  its  claims  to  the  territory  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  it  was  still  held  that 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  were  at  least 
entitled  to  that  portion  of  this  broad  strip 
lying  between  the  western  boundaries  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  and  the  Missis 
sippi  River.  This  included  the  northern 
part  of  the  present  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois  in  the  claims  of  Connecticut,  and 
the  southern  part  of  Michigan  and  Wiscon 
sin  in  the  claims  of  Massachusetts.  Virginia 
claimed  under  her  second  charter  all  of  the 
territory  lying  west  of  her  northern  and 
southern  lines,  and  included  all  of  the  pres 
ent  Kentucky  and  southern  half  of  Ohio,  In 
diana,  and  Illinois.  In  addition  to  this  she 
claimed  that  the  wording  of  the  original 

63 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

charter,  "up  into  the  land  from  sea  to  sea, 
west  and  northwest,"  gave  her  just  claims  to 
territory  extending  to  the  lakes,  and  also 
the  territory  between  the  lakes  and  the 
Mississippi.  New  York  also  claimed  certain 
territory  west  of  her  present  boundary-line 
and  lying  within  the  area  in  question. 

When,  therefore,  the  British  Parliament 
by  the  act  of  1774  attached  to  the  Province 
of  Quebec  all  of  the  territory  between  the 
Ohio  at  the  south  and  the  Mississippi  at  the 
west,  including  the  present  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan,  it 
took  from  these  three  colonies  a  vast  body  of 
the  finest  lands  of  America,  which  the  colo 
nies  felt  was  justly  their  own.  This  act  by 
the  British  Parliament  added  greatly  to  the 
dissatisfaction  in  the  colonies,  and  stimulated 
the  development  of  plans  for  revolution. 
Before  the  year  ended  a  "  Congress  of  Com- 
mittees,"  composed  of  committees  or  delegates 
from  all  of  the  colonies  except  Georgia,  met 
at  Carpenters'  Hall,  Philadelphia  (September 
5,  1774),  and  became  the  "First  Continental 
Congress."  It  passed  resolutions  protesting 
against  the  closing  of  the  port  of  Boston, 

64 


Independence  and   Union 

and  adopted  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  declaring 
the  people  of  the  colony  entitled  to  the  rights 
of  English  citizens,  protesting  also  against 
taxation  without  representation,  and  against 
the  retention  of  a  standing  army  in  their 
midst,  and  calling  for  a  meeting  of  another 
Congress  in  May,  1775,  in  case  no  redress  of 
grievances  should  be  granted  meantime.  Be 
fore  that  date  the  assembled  colonists  on  the 
village  green  of  Lexington,  near  Boston,  had 
been  fired  upon  by  British  troops,  and  the 
war  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother 
country  had  begun. 

BRITISH  TERRITORY  IN  AMERICA  AT  THE  BEGIN 
NING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

The  American  territory  claimed  by  the 
British  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  in 
1776  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at 
the  south  to  the  Arctic  waters  at  the  north, 
and  from  the  Atlantic  on  the  east  to  the  Mis 
sissippi  at  the  west.  Florida  had  come  into 
possession  of  the  English  by  the  treaty  of 
1763,  being  given  by  the  Spanish  Govern 
ment  in  exchange  for  Cuba,  which  the  British 
had  taken  during  the  war  with  France  over 

65 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  colonial  possessions  in  America,  in  which 
Spain  had  acted  as  the  ally  of  France,  and 
thus  subjected  her  possessions  to  British 
attack.  It  had  been  divided  into  two  dis 
tinct  provinces,  the  peninsula  being  called 
East  Florida.  The  section  lying  west  of  the 
Chattahoochee  and  Apalachicola  Rivers  was 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  a  strip  of  terri 
tory  from  the  Georgia  colony  at  the  north 
and  called  West  Florida,  and  rapidly  ac 
quired  an  English  population.  The  British 
territory  on  the  North  American  continent 
in  1776,  then,  included  East  and  West  Flori 
da,  all  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  the  Canadian 
territory  ceded  by  France  at  the  north  and 
west  of  the  colonies,  Newfoundland,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  country,  which 
had  been  explored  and  taken  possession  of 
by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  an  English 
fur-trading  organization.  The  colonies  which 
united  their  interests  and  forces  in  the  war 
against  the  mother  country  were  New  Hamp 
shire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Is 
land,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Caro 
lina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  Canada, 

66 


Independence  and   Union 

on  the  north,  was  chiefly  occupied  by  French, 
who  had  but  recently  been  at  war  with  the 
British  colonies,  and  therefore  had  little  in 
common  with  them ;  and  Florida  at  the 
south  had  been  Spanish  territory  until  a  re 
cent  date,  and  therefore  was  not  sufficiently 
in  sympathy  with  the  other  colonies  to  fall 
in  line  with  them,  though  there  was  strong 
hope  at  one  time  that  West  Florida  would 
do  so. 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

The  history  of  the  struggle  of  the  thirteen 
colonies  lying  between  Florida  and  Canada,  a 
struggle  by  which  they  acquired  their  inde 
pendence,  need  not  here  be  related  in  detail. 
The  purpose  of  this  work  is  chiefly  to  deal 
with  the  history  of  territorial  acquisition  and 
its  transition  into  the  present  political  divi 
sions.  The  story  of  the  Revolution  is  well 
known,  and  is  available  to  every  citizen 
and  reader.  A  few  leading  facts,  how 
ever,  must  be  told,  because  of  their  relation 
to  the  question  of  the  area  involved  in  that 
struggle. 

The  military  plan  of  the  British  was  to 
occupy  the  chief  cities,  and  to  divide  the 

67 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

allied  colonies  by  taking  possession  of  the 
Hudson  Valley.  If  they  could  drive  a 
wedge  of  troops  up  the  Hudson  and  along 
Lakes  George  and  Champlain  to  Canada, 
they  would  not  only  surround  and  hem  in 
New  England,  but  cut  it  off  from  relation 
with  that  other  troublesome  center  of  revolu 
tion,  Virginia.  The  Second  Continental  Con 
gress,  which  met  in  Philadelphia,  May  10, 

1775,  on  June  14  determined  to  raise  a  con. 
tinental  army,  and  named  George  Washing 
ton,  Esquire,  of  Virginia,  as   its   command 
er.     He  arrived  at  Cambridge,  near  Boston, 
July  3  of  that  year,  and  began  the  forma 
tion,  equipment,  and   training   of  an   army. 
During  the  entire  summer,  fall,  and  winter, 
the  British  commander  in  Boston  sat  quietly 
at  his  post,  seeing  these  preparations  go  on 
without    taking   action,    and    on    March    5, 

1776,  awoke  to  find  Washington  entrenched 
on  Dorchester  Heights,  in  such  a  command 
ing  position  that  there  remained  nothing  for 
the  British  forces  but  to  evacuate  and  repair 
to  Halifax. 

Washington,  who  saw  that   New  York 
was  the  real  strategic  center,  since  it  com- 
^  68 


Independence  and   Union 

manded  the  great  entrance  to  the  interior, 
hastened  there  in  April,  and  in  the  follow 
ing  June  the  British  war-ships  began  to 
gather  round  him.  On  July  4  the  Conti 
nental  Congress  adopted  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  declaring  the  thirteen  colonies 
no  longer  colonies,  but  free  and  independent 
States.  From  that  day  each  colony  assumed 
the  name  of  State,  and  the  Union,  which 
had  been  known  as  "The  United  Colonies," 
became  known  as  "The  United  States  of 
America."  A  committee  was  appointed  and 
directed  to  prepare  articles  of  confederation 
for  the  government  of  the  colonies.  In 
Ausrust  the  British  forces  at  New  York  had 

o 

become  strong  enough  to  justify  an  attack 
upon  the  colonial  forces,  and  Washington 
was  compelled  to  abandon  the  important 
strategic  line  of  the  Hudson  and  withdraw 
to  Philadelphia,  the  seat  of  the  Government 
of  the  newly  founded  United  States.  From 
that  point,  however,  he  made  his  historic 
crossing  of  the  Delaware  on  the  night  of 
Christmas,  1776,  attacking  the  British  forces 
which  had  leisurely  followed  him  from  New 
York,  taking  Trenton  at  the  point  of  the 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

bayonet,   and   afterward   Princeton,  and   re 
gaining  control  of  New  Jersey. 

The  following  spring  (1777)  the  British 
put  into  operation  their  plan  for  taking  pos 
session  of  the  valley  of  the  Hudson.  One 
body  of  troops  was  to  move  up  the  Hudson, 
another  was  to  move  down  Lake  Champlain 
and  Lake  George,  and  another  down  the  Mo 
hawk  Valley,  and  they  were  to  meet  mid 
way  and  thus  cut  off  New  England,  and  ef 
fectually  split  open  the  new  Union.  They 
believed  that  New  York  had  a  strong  ele 
ment  still  loyal  to  England,  and  would  not 
be  difficult  to  control,  and  the  strong  Quaker 
element  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey, 
they  thought,  would  minimize  the  difficulty 
of  controlling  that  section.  But  their  ex 
pectations  were  not  realized.  The  three 
bodies  of  troops  in  the  Hudson  Valley  were 
one  by  one  defeated,  partly  by  the  colonial 
forces  and  partly  by  the  people  of  the  coun 
try  through  which  they  passed,  and  the  at 
tempt  to  cut  the  colonies  into  two  sections 
was  a  failure.  The  British  felt,  however, 
that  if  they  could  capture  the  "  capital "  of 
the  new  nation  it  would  be  an  important 

70 


Independence  and   Union 

move,  and  capture  it  they  did,  entering 
Philadelphia  in  September,  1777.  Congress 
thereupon  removed  to  York,  Pa.,  and  Wash 
ington  to  Valley  Forge,  where  that  terrible 
winter  was  spent.  In  the  following  spring 
(1778)  the  British  returned  to  New  York, 
finding  no  advantage  in  retaining  Philadel 
phia,  especially  as  New  York  was  a  much 
more  important  strategic  point. 

Meantime  the  United  States  had  ob 
tained  the  cooperation  of  France,  and  this 
gave  them  new  strength  and  courage.  In 
the  spring  of  1778  they  began  a  series  of 
operations  for  the  recovery  of  the  territory 
between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  and 
the  Great  Lakes,  which  the  English  had  add 
ed  to  Quebec  by  the  act  of  1774.  George 
Rogers  Clarke,  a  young  Kentuckian,  was 
given  permission  to  carry  out  a  plan  which 
he  had  developed.  Gathering  a  small  force 
of  men  at  Pittsburg,  a  few  small  boats,  and 
a  few  pieces  of  light  artillery,  he  moved 
down  the  Ohio,  up  the  Wabash,  and  then 
up  the  Mississippi  River,  taking  possession 
of  the  British  posts  and  forts,  while  another 
force  did  likewise  on  the  Mississippi  below 
6  71 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  before  the  Brit 
ish  fully  realized  what  was  happening  the 
country  west  of  the  Alleghanies  had  been 
taken  possession  of  by  the  American  forces. 

The  plan  of  dividing  the  forces  of  the 
United  Colonies  by  occupying  the  Hudson 
having  failed,  and  the  alert  Americans  hav 
ing  meantime  occupied  the  valuable  western 
territory,  the  British  formed  a  new  plan,  to 
make  their  attack  from  the  south,  where  pop 
ulation  was  less  dense  than  at  the  north,  and 
where  it  was  believed  there  would  be  greater 
aid  from  the  "loyalists,"  and  to  gradually 
move  northward  until  they  had  occupied  the 
country.  So  they  sent  troops  by  sea  to  Sa 
vannah  late  in  1778,  and  easily  took  that 
place,  and  for  more  than  a  year  operated  in 
Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  until  they  had 
them  perfectly  under  control.  Meantime  the 
Americans  were  beginning  to  be  successful 
at  sea  against  the  British,  and  these  successes 
strengthened  the  courage  of  those  on  land. 
In  1780  the  people  of  the  western  part  of 
the  Carolinas  and  Virginia  organized  bodies 
of  mounted  riflemen,  who  soon  checked  the 
British  forces  and  plans  for  occupying  that 

72 


Independence  and   Union 

section.  Cornwallis,  the  commander  of  the 
British  forces  in  the  south,  then  determined 
to  move  northward  and  join  another  body  of 
British  troops  operating  in  Virginia.  He 
was,  however,  intercepted  by  a  body  of 
American  and  French  troops  under  Lafay 
ette,  was  forced  to  entrench  himself  at 
Yorktown,  on  the  peninsula  between  the 
Chesapeake  and  James  River,  and  before  he 
was  able  to  extricate  himself  a  French  fleet, 
brought  from  the  West  Indies,  had  cut  off 
the  possibility  of  retreat  by  water.  Here  he 
remained  hemmed  in  by  land  forces  at  the 
front  and  hostile  vessels  at  the  rear,  until 
Washington  and  his  troops  arrived  in  Octo 
ber,  1781,  when  he  surrendered,  and  the  war 
was  at  an  end. 

FORMATION  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION 

Practically  the  entire  Revolutionary  War 
was  carried  through  under  the  Continental 
Congress,  which  remained  in  almost  continu 
ous  session  from  the  adoption  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  until  near  the  close  of 
the  war.  The  committee  appointed  to  frame 
articles  for  a  confederation  reported  a  plan 

73 


Expansion   of  Our  Territory 

July  12,  1776,  but  Congress  did  not  finally 
act  until  November  15,  1777,  when  the  Ar 
ticles  of  Confederation  were  submitted  to  the 
States,  and  while  ten  of  the  States  promptly 
acted  upon  them,  it  was  not  until  March, 
1781,  seven  months  before  the  surrender  of 
Cornwallis,  that  the  last  State,  Maryland,  ra 
tified  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  they 
were  put  into  force.  From  that  date  Con 
gress  was  acting  under  a  written  form  of  gov 
ernment  which  all  the  States  had  authorized 
and  bound  themselves  to  accept  and  support. 

DETERMINING  THE  BOUNDARIES  OP  THE  NEW 
UNION 

One  of  the  first  things  considered  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  was  the  determination 
of  the  territory  to  which  the  successful  Ameri 
cans  should  be  entitled.  A  commission  consist 
ing  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Adams,  John 
Jay,  and  Henry  Laurens  was  named  to  meet 
representatives  of  the  English  Government  at 
Paris  in  1782,  and  they  were  instructed  to  con 
sult  with  and  be  guided  by  the  wishes  of  the 
French  court,  France  having  been  the  ally  of 
the  United  States  in  the  war  just  ended. 

74 


Expansion   of  Our  Territory 

It  was  felt  that  the  Americans  were  en 
titled  to  all  of  the  territory  which  they  had 
occupied  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  ought 
to  insist  upon  all  that  originally  granted  to 
the  colonies  in  their  charters.  It  soon  be 
came  apparent,  however,  that  the  represent 
atives  of  the  French  Government  would  not 
sustain  them  in  this  claim.  Count  de  Ver- 
gennes,  the  chief  representative  of  the  French 
Government,  proposed  that  the  western  line 
of  the  United  States  should  follow  the  Al 
leghanies  from  Pennsylvania  southward  as 
far  as  the  mountains  extended,  and  thence 
due  south  to  the  boundary  of  Florida ;  that 
the  territory  between  the  Ohio,  the  Great 
Lakes,  and  the  Mississippi  should  remain  in 
the  possession  of  the  English ;  and  that  the 
section  south  of  the  Ohio  between  the  Al 
leghanies  and  the  Mississippi  should  be  con 
sidered  neutral  territory,  to  be  set  aside  for 
the  Indians,  and  be  under  joint  protection  of 
the  United  States  and  Spain,  which  then  held 
the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi.  This 
proposition  was  indignantly  rejected  by  the 
American  commissioners,  who  disregarded 
their  instructions  to  consult  with  the  French, 

76 


Independence  and   Union 

and  entered  upon  separate  negotiations  with 
the  English  without  taking  the  French  fur 
ther  into  their  confidences. 

By  dint  of  insistence  they  finally  obtained 
terms  by  which  the  Mississippi  was  made  the 
boundary  on  the  west,  Florida  on  the  south, 
the  highlands  dividing  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Atlantic  watershed  on  the  northeast,  a 
line  drawn  through  the  middle  of  Lakes  On 
tario,  Erie,  and  Huron  at  the  north,  thence 
through  Lake  Superior  to  a  point  north  of 
Isle  Royale,  thence  through  the  Long  Lake 
and  the  water  connections  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  at  the  northwest,  and  thence  due  west 
to  the  Mississippi,  which  was  then  supposed 
to  extend  as  far  north  as  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods. 

This  gave  to  the  Americans  all  of  the  ter 
ritory  which  they  had  ever  claimed  and  the 
section  west  of  Lake  Superior  to  which  the 
colonists  had  made  no  other  claim  prior  to 
the  Revolution  except  that  somewhat  vague 
one  of  Virginia  based  upon  her  original  char 
ter,  which  used  the  term  "up  into  the  land 
west  and  northwest."  At  the  southwest  the 
line  fixed  by  the  agreement  included  the 

77 


PLAN  OFDWISIOtf 

Of  NORTH  AMERICA. 


78 


Independence  and   Union 

strip  of  country  which  had  been  taken  from 
Georgia  by  the  British  Government  and  an 
nexed  to  western  Florida  after  Florida  came 
into  possession  of  the  British  Government  in 
1763.  The  English  were  not  insistent  upon 
maintaining  the  northern  boundary-line  of 
West  Florida  because  the  Spanish  had  in 
vaded  the  province  and  obtained  possession 
of  a  part  of  its  territory,  and  so  weakened 
the  English  control  that  the  retrocession  of 
all  Florida  to  Spain  was  then  probable,  and 
actually  occurred  in  the  following  year,  1783. 
Spain  for  many  years  afterward  claimed  that 
the  northern  section  of  West  Florida  was 
transferred  to  her  by  the  British  transfer  of 
Florida  to  Spain,  and  not  to  the  United 
States,  but  the  matter  was  finally  adjusted 
by  negotiation  in  1798,  when  Spain  aban 
doned  her  claim  to  the  area  and  the  United 
States  established  a  Territorial  government 
for  it. 

Hence  the  treaty  between  the  Americans 
and  the  English,  concluded  in  preliminary 
form  in  1782  and  completed  in  1783,  gave 
to  the  Americans  two  sections — one  at  the 
northwest  and  one  at  the  southwest — which 

79 


80 


Independence  and  Union 

were  not  included  in  the  recognized  boundary 
of  the  colonies  in  the  closing  years  of  British 
control,  and  also  all  that  territory  between 
the  Ohio,  the  Great  Lakes,  and  the  Missis 
sippi  which  Parliament  had  annexed  to  Que 
bec  by  the  act  of  1774.  r 
The  conclusion  of  the  peace  treaty  with  \ 
Great  Britain  in  1783  gave  to  the  Americans 
an  area  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Missis 
sippi,  on  the  south  by  Florida,  and  on  the 
north  by  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  ridge 
between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Atlantic. 
Their  neighbors  were  the  Spanish  on  the  south 
and  the  west  and  the  English  on  the  north. 


81 


FOUKTH  PEEIOD 

WESTEKN   LANDS    CEDED    TO   THE    COMMON 
UNION 

ONE  of  the  first  questions  which  con 
fronted  the  thirteen  new  States  when  they 
came  to  take  up  the  subject  of  a  common 
Union  was  that  of  the  western  land.  It 
arose  to  vex  the  Continental  Congress  in  its 
deliberations  and  attempts  at  united  action 
and  definite  agreements  even  during  the  Rev 
olutionary  period,  and  in  1779  that  body 
passed  a  resolution  recommending  to  the 
States  claiming  land  in  the  west  that  they 
forbear  issuing  land  warrants  for  unappropri 
ated  lands  during  the  continuation  of  the  war. 
At  that  time  Georgia  claimed  that  her  area 
extended  in  a  line  due  west  to  the  Missis. 
sippi ;  South  Carolina  claimed  a  narrow  strip 
of  land  west  of  her  present  borders  extending 
to  the  Mississippi ;  North  Carolina  claimed  a 

82 


Lands   Ceded  to  the   Union 

broad  strip  to  the  Mississippi  including  what 
is  now  Tennessee ;  Virginia  claimed  all  of  the 
country  west  of  her  northern  and  southern 
borders  west  to  the  Mississippi  and  indefi 
nitely  to  the  northwest  as  far  north  as  the 
lakes  and  even  west  of  them;  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts  claimed  each  a  long,  nar 
row  strip  from  western  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York  to  the  Mississippi  River.  New 
York  also  claimed  territory  at  her  west  and 
southwest  extending  from  the  source  of  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Cumberland  Mountains, 
claiming  this  partly  under  an  old  charter, 
partly  through  treaty  with  Indian  tribes,  and 
partly  by  claims  of  the  Dutch. 

Thus  the  claims  overlapped  each  other  in 
many  particulars,  and  were  liable  to  give  se 
rious  trouble  in  adjustment. 

Besides  this,  and  even  more  important, 
was  the  fact  that  certain  of  the  States  which 
had  no  western  land  claim  felt  that  they 
should  not  be  required  to  help  to  develop 
the  western  lands  of  their  more  fortunate 
neighbors,  and  refused  to  enter  the  Union 
until  the  other  States  should  agree  to  cede 
their  western  land  to  the  common  Union. 

83 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Maryland  was  especially  insistent  upon  this, 
and  it  was  her  sturdy  refusal  to  accept  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  without  this  prece 
dent  which  finally  led  to  this  action.  New 
York  ceded  her  western  claims  to  the  Union 
in  1781 ;  Virginia  all  of  that  lying  north  of 
the  Ohio  in  1784;  Massachusetts  in  1785; 
Connecticut  in  1786;  South  Carolina  in  1787 ; 
North  Carolina  in  1784  and  1790 ;  and  Georgia 
in  1802.  The  Connecticut  Act  of  Cession  re 
tained  the  ownership  of  about  3,600,000  acres 
of  land  extending  120  miles  west  of  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  now  a  part  of  Ohio,  though 
ceding  jurisdiction  over  it  to  the  United 
States.  This  land  thus  retained  by  Connec 
ticut  as  a  basis  of  her  school  fund  became 
known  as  the  "  Western  Reserve,"  and  juris 
diction  over  it  was  in  1800  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  Virginia  also  retained  about 
3,700,000  acres  in  the  southern  part  of  what 
is  now  Ohio  for  use  as  military  bounty  land, 
though  ceding  territorial  jurisdiction  to  the 
United  States  over  all  of  it. 

By  these  generous  concessions  on  the  part 
of  the  States  of  their  western  land  claims, 
all  questions  of  conflicting  jurisdiction  were 

84 


85 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

terminated,  and  a  magnificent  area  ceded 
to  the  common  government,  from  which  it 
might  create  new  States  of  equal  standing  in 
the  Union  with  those  which  had  ceded  the 
territory.  The  area  which  is  now  the  State 
of  Maine  was  at  that  time  a  province  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  that  which  now  forms  the 
State  of  Vermont  was  claimed  by  the  State 
of  New  York,  although  the  people  occupying 
it  had  declared  their  independence  of  New 
York,  and  in  1777  petitioned  the  Continental 
Congress  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  an 
independent  State. 

THE  "INDEPENDENT  STATE   OF  FRANKLAND" 

The  first  effort  for  the  establishment  of  a 
State  government  in  this  western  territory 
was  made  by  a  community  of  settlers  on  the 
Watauga  and  Cumberland  Rivers,  on  the 
western  lands  of  North  Carolina,  and  extend 
ing  across  the  line  into  the  western  territory 
of  Virginia.  This  community  was  dissatis 
fied  with  the  action  of  the  North  Carolina 
Legislature  by  which  the  western  territory 
was,  in  1784,  ceded  to  the  Union,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  set  up  an  independent  organ- 

86 


Lands  Ceded  to  the   Union 

ization,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of 
the  "State  of  Frankland,"  or  "Franklin." 
Alarmed  by  this  action,  the  North  Carolina 
Legislature  repealed  the  act  by  which  the 
territory  had  been  ceded  to  the  Union.  The 
young  State,  however,  sent  a  delegate  to  the 
Congress,  but  he  was  not  admitted.  A  long 
struggle  followed,  North  Carolina  attempting 
to  enforce  her  control,  and  there  were  divi 
sions  among  the  people  of  Frankland  on  the 
question  of  independence  or  a  return  to  alle 
giance  to  North  Carolina.  This  resulted  in 
the  defeat  of  the  officers  of  the  State,  and 
finally  terminated  its  existence,  and  in  1790 
the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  again  ceded 
its  western  territory  to  the  common  Union, 
including  with  it  the  area  which  had  claimed 
existence  as  the  "Independent  State  of 
Frankland."  The  question  as  to  whether 
the  name  adopted  for  this  proposed  State 
was  Franklin  or  Frankland  has  never  been 
satisfactorily  settled.  By  some  it  is  claimed 
that  it  was  called  "  Frankland,"  meaning  the 
land  of  the  Franks,  or  freemen;  while  by 
others  it  is  claimed  that  it  was  called  "  Frank 
lin,"  after  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  it  is  as- 
?  87 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

serted  that  letters  were  sent  to  Franklin  by 
leading  men  of  the  community  stating  that 
the  State  had  been  named  for  him,  and  ap 
pealing  to  him  for  aid  in  obtaining  its  recog 
nition  by  the  Congress.  It  is  stated  on  good 
authority  that  both  names  were  used  in  the 
official  documents  of  the  State  during  its 
brief  and  troubled  history. 

FIRST    STEPS    IN   STATE  MAKING  FROM    COMMON 
TERRITORY 

The  first  step  taken  authoritatively  for 
the  establishment  of  government  in  the 
western  territory  was  by  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederation.  Following  the  cession  by 
Virginia  of  her  northwest  lands  in  1784, 
propositions  were  offered  for  dividing  the 
western  territory  into  seventeen  States,  and 
a  committee  was  appointed,  with  Jefferson 
at  its  head,  to  frame  a  definite  measure  for 
the  government  of  this  area.  He  reported  a 
measure  for  the  creation  of  ten  new  States 
from  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio,  some  of 
the  names  being  borrowed  from  the  Greek, 
some  from  the  Latin,  and  some  from  Indian 
names.  The  names  proposed  were :  For  the 

88 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

tongue  of  land  between  Lakes  Huron  and 
Michigan,  "  Cheronesus  "  ;  for  that  bounded 
by  the  Wabash,  Ohio,  and  Mississippi  Kivers, 
"  Polypotamia  "  ;  for  that  lying  farther  north 
between  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  the  lakes, 
"  Mesopotamia."  Other  names  proposed 
were  "  Illinoia,"  "  Assenissippia,"  "  Pelesipia," 
" Michigania,"  "Saratoga,"  "Sylvania,"  and 
"  Washington."  A  code  of  laws  was  framed 
which  should  govern  each  State  until  it  had 
a  population  of  20,000,  when  it  should  ac 
quire  the  right  of  self-government.  A  propo 
sition  that  slavery  should  be  abolished  in  the 
area  in  question  after  the  year  1800  was 
stricken  out  during  consideration,  and  the 
act  then  passed. 

THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  ORGANIZED 

Three  years  later,  however,  the  act  above 
described  was  repealed,  and  an  act  providing 
for  the  government  of  the  "Territory  of  the 
United  States  Northwest  of  the  Ohio"  was 
passed.  It  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
a  governor  and  secretary  by  Congress,  and 
stipulated  that  so  soon  as  there  should  be 
5,000  male  inhabitants,  they  might  elect  and 
90 


Lands  Ceded  to  the  Union 

organize  a  legislature  and  elect  a  delegate  to 
Congress.  It  also  provided  that  there  should 
be  formed  from  the  territory  not  less  than 
three  nor  more  than  five  States,  to  be  admitted 
to  the  Union  when  they  should  have  not  less 
than  60,000  free  inhabitants.  It  further  pro 
vided  that  slavery  should  not  exist  in  the 
territoiy  in  question,  and  that  the  law  of 
primogeniture  (by  which  the  eldest  son  suc 
ceeds  to  his  father's  real  estate)  should  not 
exist,  but  that  the  estates  of  a  person  dying 
intestate  should  be  equally  divided  among 
his  children  or  next  of  kin  in  equal  degree. 

The  passage  of  this  act,  historically  known 
as  "The  Ordinance  of  1787,"  was  immedi 
ately  followed,  by  a  movement  of  population 
to  that  section,  and  it  is  estimated  that  20,000 
people  from  east  of  the  Alleghanies  passed 
down  the  Ohio  and  made  homes  for  them 
selves  along  its  northern  banks  in  the  first 
year  after  the  organization  of  the  government 
of  the  Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio. 
Arthur  St.  Clair  was  made  Governor,  and 
Winthrop  Sargent  Secretary  early  in  1788, 
and  the  first  Territorial  government  in  the 
common  territory  was  thus  established. 

91 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

ADOPTION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION 

About  this  time  occurred  an  event  in  the 
history  of  the  Union  which,  while  it  had  no 
direct  relation  to  the  question  of  area,  is  so 
important  in  its  assurance  of  the  permanence 
of  the  Union  that  it  should  not  be  passed  by 
without  at  least  a  brief  mention.  The  union 
of  the  colonies  which  followed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  a  Confederation,  without 
an  executive  officer,  a  judicial  system,  or  the 
power  to  raise  national  funds  for  national  pur 
poses.  Congress  was  the  sole  governing  body, 
and  had  no  power  to  enforce  its  acts.  It 
could  recommend  to  the  States  that  they  raise 
funds  for  the  common  defense  and  other 
national  purposes,  the  requisitions  for  funds 
being  in  proportion  to  the  valuation  of  the 
land  in  the  several  States ;  but  the  Congress 
had  no  power  to  levy  and  collect  taxes  or 
otherwise  raise  funds  for  the  common  Gov 
ernment.  In  some  cases  the  States  supplied 
their  proper  proportion  of  the  funds  called 
for  by  the  Congress,  and  in  some  cases  they 
did  not.  Each  State  fixed  its  own  rates 
of  duty  on  goods  entering  its  border,  both 

92 


Lands   Ceded  to  the  Union 

those  from  abroad  and  those  from  the  other 
colonies. 

This  form  of  government  soon  grew  very 
unsatisfactory,  and  it  became  apparent  that  a 
Union  of  this  character  could  not  continue 
permanently.  As  a  result,  the  Congress  rec 
ommended  in  1787  that  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  the  States  be  held  "for  the 
sole  and  express  purpose  of  revising  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  and  reporting  to 
Congress  and  the  several  legislatures  such 
alterations  and  provisions  as,  when  agreed  to 
by  Congress  and  confirmed  by  the  States, 
shall  render  the  Federal  Government  ade 
quate  to  the  exigencies  of  government  and 
the  preservation  of  the  Union."  This  recom 
mendation  was  complied  with,  the  convention 
of  delegates  met  in  Philadelphia  in  May, 
1787,  and  after  a  long  and  careful  discussion 
framed  an  instrument  \vhich  provided  an  ex 
ecutive  officer  (a  President),  a  Congress  com 
posed  of  two  bodies,  a  judicial  system,  and  a 
system  of  raising  funds  for  the  use  of  the 
common  Union,  and  this  became  the  Consti 
tution1  under  which  the  United  States  has, 
with  some  amendments,  adopted  at  various 
93 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

dates,  existed  for  more  than  a  century.  It 
was  agreed  to  by  Congress  and  was  ratified 
by  the  necessary  number  of  States  in  1788, 
and  the  new  Government  under  it  began  in 
1789  with  George  Washington  as  President, 
thus  assuring  the  permanence  of  the  Govern 
ment  and  the  closer  relation  of  the  States 
composing  the  Union.  North  Carolina  and 
Rhode  Island  delayed  ratification  until  several 
months  after  the  organization  of  the  Govern 
ment,  but  finally  ratified,  North  Carolina  in 
November,  1789,  and  Rhode  Island  in  May, 
1790. 

A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  THE  TERRITORY  SOUTH  OP 
THE   OHIO 

The  first  step  for  the  formation  of  a  gov 
ernment  for  the  territory  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  had  occurred  under  the  Congress  of 
the  Confederation  by  the  passage  of  the 
Ordinance  of  1787  for  the  government  of  the 
Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio.  The  next 
step  for  the  government  of  a  part  of  that  area 
occurred  in  1790,  when  the  first  Congress 
under  the  Constitution  passed  an  act  for  the 
government  of  the  "Territory  South  of  the 

94 


Lands  Ceded  to  the  Union 

Ohio."  In  that  year  (1790)  the  State  of 
North  Carolina,  which  had  withdrawn  the 
cession  of  her  western  territory  because  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Independent  State 
of  Frankland,  again  passed  an  act  ceding  the 
territory  west  of  her  present  western  bound 
ary  to  the  common  Union.  An  act  was 
promptly  passed  by  Congress  accepting  the 
cession  and  establishing  a  territorial  form  of 
government  for  the  area  ceded.  The  name 
given  to  this  section  was  "The  Territory 
South  of  the  Ohio  River."  The  general  pro 
visions  of  the  act  were  similar  to  those  under 
which  the  Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River  had  been  organized  in  1787,  with  a 
single  but  important  exception.  That  excep 
tion  was  the  clause  relative  to  slavery. 

The  act  creating  the  Territory  North 
west  of  the  Ohio,  as  already  noted,  pro 
vided  specifically  that  slavery  should  never 
exist  in  that  area.  In  contradistinction  to 
this,  the  act  by  which  North  Carolina  ceded 
the  area  in  1790  provided  in  equally  explicit 
terms  that  "no  regulations  made  or  to  be 
made  by  Congress  shall  tend  to  emancipate 
slaves  "  in  the  Territory  in  question,  and  the 

95 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Territory  was  accepted  and  government  estab 
lished  by  Congress  in  accordance  with  these 
terms.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  long 
series  of  steps  by  which  free  and  slave  States 
were  admitted  alternately  into  the  Union, 
with  the  purpose  of  maintaining  as  nearly  as 
practicable  an  equality  in  the  number  of  slave 
and  free  States  and  of  their  power  in  Con 
gress.  A  clause  prohibiting  slavery  had  been 
inserted  in  the  ordinance  creating  the  Ter 
ritory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  a  clause 
prohibiting  its  restriction  by  national  legisla 
tion  was  inserted  in  the  act  establishing  the 
Territory  South  of  the  Ohio.  In  the  admis 
sion  of  States  for  many  years  thereafter  free 
and  slave  States  alternated  in  the  order  of 
their  admission. 

By  these  two  acts  of  1787  and  1790  a  ter 
ritorial  form  of  government  was  established 
for  practically  all  of  the  western  territory 
which  had  been  ceded  to  the  common  Union 
up  to  that  time.  The  small  area  at  the  ex 
treme  south  of  Georgia  was  not  included,  as 
it  was  still  in  dispute  with  Spain.  Georgia 
did  not  cede  her  western  territory  until  1802, 
and  it  was  not,  therefore,  included  in  the  Ter- 

96 


Lands   Ceded  to  the  Union 

ritory  South  of  the  Ohio.  The  western  part 
of  Virginia,  although  often  spoken  of  as  hav 
ing  been  part  of  that  Territory,  was  not  so 
included,  but  remained  a  county  of  Virginia 
until  its  admission  as  the  State  of  Kentucky 
in  1792. 

The  long,  narrow  strip  of  land  lying  just 
south  of  the  territory  ceded  by  North  Caro 
lina,  which  had  been  ceded  to  the  Union  by 
South  Carolina  in  1787,  was  not  included  in 
the  Territory  South  of  the  Ohio,  It  appears 
to  have  remained  without  a  definite  form  of 
government  until  Georgia  ceded  her  western 
territory  to  the  United  States  in  1802,  when 
the  part  lying  north  of  Georgia  was  ceded  to 
that  State  and  the  part  lying  north  of  the 
area  ceded  to  the  Union  by  Georgia  was  in 
corporated  with  that  ftrea  and  thus  became  part 
of  the  territory  of  Mississippi.  The  fact  that 
South  Carolina  held,  as  a  part  of  her  territory, 
this  long,  narrow  strip  only  fourteen  miles 
wide  and  extending  westwardly  to  the  Missis 
sippi  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  transfer  of 
South  Carolina's  western  area,  ceded  to  the 
colony  of  Georgia  by  King  George  II  in  1732, 
named  as  the  boundary-line  between  South 

97 


Lands  Ceded  to  the  Union 

Carolina  and  Georgia  "the  Savannah  River 
to  the  Tugaloo  and  along  the  Tugaloo  to  its 
head."  As  it  afterward  developed  that  the 
head  of  the  Tugaloo  was  fourteen  miles  south 
of  the  northern  boundary  of  South  Carolina, 
that  colony  continued  to  claim  this  narrow 
strip  of  territory  extending  to  the  Mississippi 
as  its  own,  and  ceded  it  to  the  United  States 
in  1787.  The  portion  lying  north  of  the  State 
of  Georgia  was  then  attached  to  Georgia  and 
the  portion  lying  north  of  the  territory  ceded 
by  Georgia  to  the  United  States  was  attached 
to  that  territory  and  thus  became  a  part  of  the 
Territory  of  Mississippi  and  subsequently  a 
part  of  the  States  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi. 


99 


FIFTH  PERIOD 

THE    FORMATION    OF    NEW    STATES 

A  TEMPORARY  government  having  been 
provided  for  the  common  territory  lying  west 
of  the  Alleghanies,  attention  was  turned  to 
the  appeals  already  being  made  by  sundry 
communities  for  admission  as  States  of  the 
Union.  In  some  cases  these  appeals  had  been 
made  before  the  provision  of  the  Territorial 
government  in  the  west,  and,  in  at  least  one 
case,  before  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

VERMONT 

The  first  new  State  added  to  the  original 
thirteen  was  Vermont.  The  area  was  origi 
nally  claimed  by  the  colony  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  whose  Governor  granted  large  tracts  of 
the  land  to  settlers  between  1760  and  1763. 
The  Governor  of  New  York  issued  a  procla 
mation  Claiming  the  territory  as  a  part  of 
100 


The  Formation  of  New  States 

that  colony,  and  applied  to  the  King,  who 
after  some  delay  sustained  his  claim.  The 
Governor  of  New  York  then  attempted  to 
eject  the  settlers,  who  resisted  under  Ethan 
Allen  and  others,  and  the  Governor  of  New 
York  issued  a  proclamation  offering  a  reward 
of  £150  for  the  capture  of  Allen  and  £50  for 
the  other  leaders.  They  retorted  by  offering 
a  reward  for  the  capture  of  the  Attorney- 
General  of  New  York.  By  this  time,  how 
ever,  the  preparations  for  the  Revolution 
caused  the  colonists  to  forget  their  local  dif 
ferences  and  prepare  for  the  common  cause. 
The  people  of  Vermont  in  1776  declared 
their  independence,  and  applied  to  the  Con 
gress  for  admission  to  the  Confederation,  but 
Congress  hesitated  because  of  the  claims  of 
New  York;  whereupon  the  people  of  Ver 
mont  organized  a  government  of  their  own 
with  a  constitution  modeled  upon  that  of 
Pennsylvania.  In  1781  Congress  offered  to 
admit  Vermont  with  a  considerable  curtail 
ment  of  boundary,  but  the  offer  was  rejected. 
The  Vermonters,  however,  took  part  in  the 
war  for  independence,  the  "  Green  Moun 
tain  Boys"  distinguishing  themselves  in  some 
101 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

of  the  hardest-fought  battles  of  the  Revolu 
tion. 

In  1790  New  York  proposed  to  relinquish 
all  claims  to  the  Vermont  territory  on  payment 
of  $30,000,  and  this  was  agreed  to  by  the 
people  of  Vermont,  who  made  the  payment 
and  at  once  applied  for  admission  into  the 
7  Union,  and  Vermont  was  admitted  in  1791, 
being  the  first  State  added  to  the  original 
thirteen. 

KENTUCKY 

Kentucky  was  the  second  State  admitted 
to  the  Union.  The  area  of  Virginia  lying 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  had  been  from  early 
times  known  as  "  the  Kentucky  country," 
from  an  Indian  name  for  one  of  its  rivers. 
In  1766  a  party  of  explorers  from  east  of  the 
Alleghanies  visited  what  is  now  southern 
Kentucky,  and  were  soon  followed  by  others. 
In  1769  Daniel  Boone  and  five  companions 
from  North  Carolina  visited  that  section,  and 
Boone  decided  to  remain.  In  1770  George 
Washington,  then  a  land  surveyor,  made  a 
survey  of  what  is  now  the  northeast  corner 
of  Kentucky.  In  1775  James  Harrod,  of  Vir 
ginia,  with  about  forty  companions,  passed 
102 


The  Formation  of  New  States 

down  the  Ohio  to  a  point  near  where  Louis 
ville  now  stands,  and  passing  to  the  interior 
established  a  colony  subsequently  called  Har- 
rodsburg. 

A  company  from  North  Carolina  estab 
lished  a  settlement  in  the  southern  part  of 
what  is  now  Kentucky,  assuming  that  the 
territory  was  within  the  limits  of  North  Caro 
lina,  and  disposed  of  large  tracts  of  land  which 
they  claimed  to  have  purchased  from  the  In 
dians.  The  company  was  known  as  the  Tran 
sylvania  Company,  and  the  colony  was  known 
by  this  name.  The  colonists  having  become 
assured  that  they  were  within  the  limits  of 
Virginia,  sent  in  1775  a  memorial  to  the  Vir 
ginia  authorities  asking  to  be  taken  under 
their  protection,  and  the  proprietors  retorted 
by  sending  a  delegate  to  the  Colonial  Con 
gress,  asking  that  Transylvania  be  added  to 
the  number  of  American  colonies,  and  its  dele 
gate  admitted  to  the  Congress.  That  body, 
through  the  representations  of  the  Virginia 
members,  refused  to  recognize  or  seat  the 
delegate,  and  shortly  afterward  the  Virginia 
Legislature  established  the  territory  west  of 
the  Alleghanies  as  the  County  of  Kentucky. 
8  103 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Later  it  was  organized  as  the  District  of  Ken 
tucky,  and  divided  into  several  counties. 

In  1784-'85  and  1786  conventions  were 
held,  which  recommended  a  peaceable  separa 
tion  from  Virginia  and  the  establishment  of  a 
separate  State  of  the  Union,  and  in  1786  the 
Virginia  Legislature  voted  to  comply  with  the 
request. 

Action  was  delayed  by  a  feeling  among 
the  people  in  favor  of  organizing  an  inde 
pendent  nationality.  The  fact  that  the  Gov 
ernment  was  about  to  pass  from  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation  to  the  Congress  of  the 
Constitution  also  caused  delay  by  Congress 
in  acting  upon  the  proposition.  Meantime 
Spain,  which  controlled  the  territory  west  of 
the  Mississippi  and  adjacent  to  the  western 
boundary  of  the  proposed  new  State,  secretly 
informed  the  leading  men  of  that  section 
that  Kentucky  would  be  given  peculiar  com 
mercial  favors  with  the  Spanish-American 
territory  if  they  would  organize  it  as  an  inde 
pendent  nation  instead  of  a  State  of  the 
Union.  These  and  other  facts  delayed  action, 
but  the  proposition  of  Spain  was  rejected  and 
application  made  to  Congress,  and  Kentucky, 
104 


The  Formation  of  New  States 

after  having  held  nine  conventions  favoring 
statehood,  was  in  1792  admitted  as  the  fif 
teenth  State  of  the  Union.  Its  population  by 
that  time  had  become  about  75,000,  having 
increased  very  rapidly  after  the  close  of  the 
Revolution  by  immigrants  from  east  of  the 
Alleghanies. 

No  constitution  had  been  adopted  by  the 
people  when  the  act  of  Congress  authorizing 
its  admission  was  passed,  but  that  instrument, 
when  adopted,  contained  a  clause  providing 
that  the  Legislature  of  the  State  should  have 
no  power  to  pass  laws  for  the  emancipation  of 
slaves  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  nor 
without  paying  the  owners  full  value  for  them, 
and  that  no  law  should  be  passed  preventing 
immigrants  from  bringing  their  slaves  into  the 
State.  Thus,  while  Vermont  had  come  into 
the  Union  in  1791  without  slavery,  Kentucky 
came  with  slavery  in  1792. 

TENNESSEE 

The  third  State  admitted  to  the  Union 

was  Tennessee.    People  from  North  Carolina 

and  Virginia  had  formed  settlements  on  the 

Watauga  River  as  early  as  1769,  and  a  local 

105 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

government,  the  Watauga  Association,  was 
formed  in  1772.  When  North  Carolina  added 
her  western  territory  to  the  common  Union 
in  1784  the  Watauga  people  formed  the  inde. 
pendent  State  of  Frankland  (or  Franklin),  as 
has  been  already  described,  and  applied  to 
the  Congress  for  admission  to  the  Confedera 
tion,  but  were  refused,  and  North  Carolina 
repealed  her  act  ceding  the  territory  to  the 
common  Union.  By  1790  the  State  of  Frank- 
land  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  territory 
was  again  ceded  to  the  Union,  and  Congress 
organized  the  area  as  the  Territory  South 
of  the  Ohio.  In  1796  application  was  made 
to  Congress  for  admission  as  a  State,  a  consti 
tution  was  framed  at  a  convention  held  at 
Knoxville,  and  Tennessee  was  in  that  year 
admitted  as  the  sixteenth  State  of  the  Union. 
John  Sevier,  who  was  the  Governor  of  the 
"  Independent  State  of  Frankland,"  became 
the  first  Governor  of  the  State  of  Tennessee. 
It  had,  when  admitted,  67,000  of  white  popu 
lation  and  10,000  slaves. 

Tennessee  was  the  first    State  admitted 
from  the  area  which  had  been  organized  as  a 
Territory  before  admission  as  a  State.     Sub- 
106 


The  Formation  of  New  States 

sequently  the  new  political  divisions  were  in 
nearly  all  cases  organized  first  as  Territories, 
with  officers  appointed  by  the  President,  and 
required  to  retain  that  form  of  government  for 
a  considerable  time  before  admission  as  States. 
The  exceptions  to  this  rule  were  Vermont, 
Kentucky,  Maine,  Texas,  California,  and  West 
Virginia. 

The  usual  process  by  which  States  were 
formed  and  admitted  to  the  Union  is  de 
scribed  by  Professor  Schouler  as  follows: 
"An  act  of  Congress  enabled  a  territorial 
convention  to  meet  and  frame  a  constitution 
and  State  government  upon  prescribed  terms, 
after  which  a  joint  resolution  (of  Congress), 
expressing  the  national  approval  of  the  work 
of  the  convention,  declared  the  new  State  ad 
mitted."  The  Territorial  government  which 
preceded  the  statehood  period  was  formed  by 
act  of  Congress. 

THE  TERRITORY  OF  MISSISSIPPI 

In  1798  the  "Territory  of  Mississippi" 

was  established.     It  consisted  of  the  small 

rectangular  area  at  the  extreme  southwest  of 

the  Union  which  had  been  cut  off  from  the 

107 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Georgia  colony  by  the  British  Government, 
and  added  to  West  Florida  after  that  Govern 
ment  came  into  possession  of  Florida  in  1763 
and  divided  it  into  two  provinces  called  East 
Florida  and  West  Florida.  The  area  had 
been  included  in  the  territory  granted  to  the 
United  States  by  the  British  in  the  peace 
treaty  of  1783,  but  Spain  had  claimed  that 
it  was  included  in  the  cession  of  Florida  to 
Spain  made  by  the  British  in  that  same  year. 
As  a  result,  both  Spain  and  the  United  States 
claimed  possession  of  this  area,  and  a  long 
negotiation  followed,  which  was  ended  in 
favor  of  the  United  States  in  1798,  when  the 
area  was  at  once  established  as  "The  Terri 
tory  of  Mississippi"  and  Winthrop  Sargent 
appointed  Governor.  It  continued  a  Terri 
tory  in  this  form  until  Georgia  ceded  her 
western  territory  in  1802,  when  the  bound 
aries  of  Mississippi  Territory  were  extended 
over  the  area  so  ceded. 

Georgia's  cession  of  her  western  lands 
seems  to  have  been  less  strongly  marked  in 
motives  for  the  welfare  of  the  common  Union 
than  was  that  of  other  States.  She  delayed 
her  cession  until  1802,  twelve  years  after  all 
108 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  other  States  had  acted ;  and  when  she 
did  make  the  cession  it  was  as  a  result  of  an 
agreement  made  with  the  National  Govern 
ment  that  in  consideration  of  such  cession  the 
Government  would  pay  to  the  State  of  Georgia 
the  sum  of  $1,250,000,  and  also  transfer,  at 
national  expense,  the  Indian  title  to  about 
25,000,000  acres  of  land  in  the  portion  of 
the  State  which  would  remain  as  the  State 
of  Georgia.  This  was  to  be  performed  by 
the  United  States  Government  "  whenever  it 
can  be  peaceably  done  on  reasonable  terms." 
About  15,000,000  acres  were  purchased  from 
the  Indians  and  ceded  to  Georgia  soon  after 
this  agreement,  but  the  Indians  refused  to 
sell  the  remainder,  and  in  their  council  passed 
an  act  forbidding  the  sale  on  pain  of  death. 
In  1824,  however,  a  party  of  chiefs,  profess 
ing  to  act  by  authority,  made  a  treaty  with 
the  United  States  for  the  transfer  of  the  land, 
and  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  Govern 
ment  ;  but  when  the  news  reached  the  In 
dians  they  denied  the  right  of  the  chiefs  to 
make  the  agreement,  and  executed  two  of 
them  in  punishment  for  their  action.  A  new 
negotiation  was  opened  by  the  United  States, 
110 


The  Formation  of  New  States 

and  finally  an  agreement  made  by  which  all 
the  lands  were  ceded  by  the  Indians  and 
passed  to  the  ownership  of  the  State  of 
Georgia. 

The  payment  of  $1,250,000  and  the  ex 
tinguishment  of  Indian  title  to  lands  did  not 
complete  the  cost  to  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  of  the  western  lands  of  Georgia.  That 
State  had  in  1789  sold  certain  of  her  western 
lands,  amounting  to  13,500,000  acres,  to  a 
land  company  for  about  $200,000,  but  ques 
tions  about  the  Indian  title  to  the  lands  and 
the  currency  in  which  the  payment  was  made 
arose,  and  the  Legislature  repealed  the  act. 
In  1795  the  purchasers  reorganized,  and  the 
Legislature  again  sold  to  four  companies  35,- 
000,000  acres  of  land  for  about  $500,000. 
Charges  of  corruption  in  the  Legislature  were 
made,  and  so  well  sustained  that  a  new  Legis 
lature  was  elected  on  a  distinct  pledge  to  re 
peal  the  act,  and  this  was  done ;  the  purchase 
money  was  returned  and  the  records  of  the 
transaction  publicly  burned  in  front  of  the 
State-House  by  order  of  the  Legislature.  The 
companies,  and  especially  those  who  had  pur 
chased  land  from  them,  claimed  that  they 
111 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory- 
were  unjustly  treated  by  this  and  were  en 
titled  to  damages.  After  the  western  lands 
were  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Georgia 
in  1802,  holders  of  the  land  who  had  pur 
chased  from  the  companies  appealed  to  Con 
gress,  but  without  avail ;  in  1810  they  ob 
tained  a  judgment  in  their  favor  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  which  held  that  the  sale  by 
the  State  must  be  sustained,  despite  the  alle 
gations  of  corruption  in  the  transaction,  and 
that  purchasers  from  the  companies  were  in 
nocent  holders  without  notice.  In  1814  Con 
gress  authorized  the  sale  of  the  lands,  and  the 
application  of  $5,000,000  therefrom  for  ex 
tinguishment  of  the  claims.  The  transaction 
by  the  Legislature  was  known  as  the  "  Yazoo 
Frauds,"  and  the  claims  as  subsequently  ad 
justed  were  known  as  the  "Yazoo  Claims." 

Georgia  ceded  her  western  territory  to  the 
Union  in  1802,  and  it  was  in  1804  attached 
to  that  area  at  the  extreme  southwest  already 
described  as  the  Territory  of  Mississippi ;  and 
the  combined  area  became  known  by  that  name 
and  so  continued  until  its  division  and  the  es 
tablishment  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  from 
the  western  section  and  the  Territory  of  Ala- 
112 


The  Formation  of  New  States 

bama  from  the  eastern  section.  The  long, 
narrow  strip  of  land  extending  west  from  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  to  the  Mississippi, 
about  fifteen  miles  in  width,  which  had  been 
ceded  to  the  Union  by  South  Carolina,  was 
also  included  within  the  northern  boundaries 
of  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi,  respect 
ively,  and  became  a  part  of  those  States. 

FIRST    STATE    FORMED    FROM    THE    NORTHWEST 
TERRITORY 

Ohio  was  the  next  and  fourth  member 
admitted  to  the  family  of  States.  A  com 
pany  formed  in  Boston  immediately  after  the 
passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  establishing 
the  Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and 
called  "  The  Ohio  Company,"  purchased  from 
the  Government  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the 
Muskingum,  and  in  1788  established  a  settle 
ment,  Marietta,  composed  chiefly  of*  people 
from  Massachusetts.  During  the  next  few 
years  population  rapidly  poured  in  from  east 
of  the  Alleghanies,  and  it  soon  became  appar 
ent  that  the  population  of  the  Territory 
Northwest  of  the  Ohio  required  that  that  vast 
area  be  subdivided  so  that  government  could 
113 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

be  more  satisfactorily  administered.  In  1800 
Congress  therefore  passed  an  act  dividing  the 
area  into  two  sections  by  a  line  drawn  due 
north  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River 
to  the  Canadian  line,  calling  the  area  west  of 
that  line  Indiana,  that  east  of  it  still  retaining 
the  name  of  the  Territory  Northwest  of  the 
Ohio.  This  eastern  section,  then,  included  all 
of  what  is  now  Ohio  and  the  eastern  part  of 
what  is  now  Michigan.  The  western  section, 
called  Indiana,  included  most  of  the  present 
State  of  Indiana,  the  western  part  of  Michi 
gan,  all  of  the  present  States  of  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  and  the  northeast  part  of  Minne 
sota.  William  Henry  Harrison  was  made 
Governor  of  Indiana,  and  St.  Clair  retained  as 
Governor  of  the  eastern  section,  which  was 
still  called  the  "  Territory  Northwest  of  the 
Ohio,"  with  its  capital  at  Chillicothe. 

In  1802  the  population  of  the  area  now 
known  as  Ohio  having  become  sufficient  to 
justify  its  admission  as  a  State,  an  "  enabling 
act,"  enabling  or  permitting  the  people  of 
that  section  to  "  form  for  themselves  a  Con 
stitution  and  State  government,"  was  passed 
by  Congress,  and  a  convention  held  at  Chil- 
114 


115 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

licothe  that  year  adopted  a  Constitution 
which  went  into  effect  without  submission  to 
the  people.  In  1803  Congress  passed  an  act 
declaring  that  Ohio,  by  the  provision  of  its 
Constitution,  "  has  become  one  of  the  United 
States  of  America."  The  boundaries  of  the 
future  State  of  Ohio  named  by  the  enabling 
act  were  substantially  those  now  existing, 
and  transferred  the  jurisdiction  of  what  is 
now  eastern  Michigan  to  the  Territory  of 
Indiana.  The  family  of  States  after  the  ad 
mission  of  Ohio  numbered  seventeen. 

By  the  steps  thus  traced,  the  territory 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  had  been  ceded  by 
the  colonies  to  the  common  Union  and  had 
been  organized  into  five  distinct  political  di 
visions  :  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
and  Ohio :  the  Territory  of  Indiana  and  the 
Territory  of  Mississippi. 


A 


116 


SIXTH  PEKIOD 

EXPANSION   BEGUN THE  LOUISIANA    PUKCHASE 

THE  next  step  in  the  territorial  history  of 
the  United  States  was  an  extremely  impor 
tant  one,  a  step  which  doubled  the  area  of 
the  country  and  gave  to  it  a  magnificent  do 
main  from  which  has  since  been  formed  four 
teen  great  States.  This  great  event  in  the 
territorial  and  political  history  of  the  country 
is  known  as  the  "  Louisiana  Purchase,"  and 
has  been  designated  as  the  "  greatest  real  es 
tate  transaction  known  to  history." 

CAUSES  OF  THE  PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA 

France,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  origi 
nally  claimed  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  by 
reason  of  exploration.  Her  war  with  Eng 
land  which  grew  out  of  this  claim  resulted 
unfavorably,  and  when  it  became  apparent 
that  she  must  give  up  her  American  territory, 
117 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

she  had  in  1762  ceded  to  Spain,  in  return  for 
certain  assistance  which  that  country  had 
given  her  in  that  war,  the  territory  claimed 
by  France,  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  with  it  a  small  area  lying  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi  just  above  its  mouth 
known  as  "  the  Island  of  New  Orleans."  That 
"  Island "  was  surrounded  by  water  by  the 
following  circumstances :  a  bayou  or  sluggish 
stream  connected  the  Mississippi  River,  from 
a  point  near  the  present  site  of  Baton  Rouge, 
with  the  Amite  River,  and  through  that 
stream  with  Lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchar- 
train,  which  were  connected  by  another  stream 
with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  line  of  water 
connecting  the  Mississippi  with  Lakes  Maure 
pas  and  Pontchartrain  had  been  utilized  by 
a  French  explorer,  Iberville,  in  1699  in  pass 
ing  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mex 
ico  and  was  given  the  name  of  the  Iberville 
River.  (This  water-way,  since  partially  filled 
up,  is  now  shown  on  the  maps  as  "Bayou 
Manchac.")  Thus  the  long,  narrow,  and  ir 
regular-shaped  piece  of  land  lying  south  of 
the  Iberville  and  Lakes  Maurepas  and  Pont 
chartrain  and  having  the  Mississippi  on  the 
118 


The  Louisiana  Purchase 

southwest  and  the  Gulf  on  the  east,  was  at 
that  time  surrounded  by  water  and  was  called 
"  the  Island  of  New  Orleans."  It  was  a  low, 
swampy  region,  but  its  importance  lay  in  the 
fact  that  its  ownership  by  the  nation  which 
also  held  the  country  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  gave  to  that  nation  absolute  con 
trol  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
would  enable  it  to  determine  at  its  pleasure 
whether  the  commerce  of  the  United  States 
should  pass  in  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  that 
great  stream. 

This  was  an  extremely  important  question 
to  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  and  espe 
cially  to  the  new  section  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  in  that  day  when  water  transportation 
was  the  only  method  by  which  its  products 
could  be  carried  t*o  the  seaboard.  An  agree 
ment  had  been  made  in  1795  by  the  United 
States  with  the  Spanish  Government  which 
thus  controlled  the  entrance  to  the  Missis 
sippi,  by  which  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  might  deposit  their  merchandise  at 
New  Orleans  and  export  it  thence  without 
paying  any  other  duty  than  a  fair  price  for 
the  rent  of  the  buildings  in  which  it  was  de- 
9  119 


Expansion   of  Our  Territory 

posited.  This  agreement,  made  by  treaty  in 
1795,  also  provided  that  at  the  expiration  of 
the  three  years  for  which  it  was  drawn,  the 
privilege  should  be  renewed,  either  at  New 
Orleans  or  some  other  point  on  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the 
three  years  a  tacit  permission  continued. 

In  the  year  1800,  however,  the  Spanish 
Government  secretly  ceded  the  Louisiana  ter 
ritory,  including  the  island  of  New  Orleans, 
back  to  France,  with  which  the  relations  of 
the  United  States  were  not  altogether  satis 
factory.  When  this  cession  became  known, 
in  1802,  great  alarm  was  felt  in  the  United 
States  lest  the  French  Government  might  ter 
minate  the  privilege  by  which  the  people  west 
of  the  Alleghanies  had  this  free  outlet  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  in  October  of  that  year 
the  Spanish  officer  who  was  still  in  charge  at 
New  Orleans  announced  the  termination  of 
the  privilege  of  deposit.  Resolutions  were 
introduced  in  Congress  authorizing  the  Pres 
ident  to  call  out  50,000  militia  and  take  pos 
session  of  New  Orleans,  but  a  substitute  was 
adopted  appropriating  $2,000,000  to  be  used 
in  the  purchase  of  New  Orleans,  and  James 
120 


The  Louisiana  Purchase 

Monroe  was  sent  to  Paris  to  cooperate  with 
our  minister  to  France,  Mr.  Livingston,  in 
negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  the  island 
and  city  of  New  Orleans.  By  the  time  of 
his  arrival  the  relations  between  France  and 
England  had  become  such  that  a  war  jbe- 
tween  them  was  probable,  and  Napoleon, 
seeing  that  the  defense  of  his  new  territory 
in  America  would  be  difficult,  decided  to 
offer  to  sell  the  whole  of  it  to  the  United 
States,  preferring  to  sell  it  to  this  country 
rather  than  lose  it  to  his  enemy,  England. 
The  offer  resulted  in  an  agreement  by  the 
American  commissioners  to  purchase  the  en 
tire  area  known  as  Louisiana,  in  the  form 
ceded  by  France  to  Spain  in  1762,  and  receded 
by  Spain  to  France  in  1800.  The  price  to  be 
paid  was  $15,000,000,  of  which  $11,250,000 
was  to  be  in  six  per  cent  bonds  of  the  United 
States  and  the  remainder  to  be  paid  to  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  having  claims 
against  France.  This  treaty  reached  Wash 
ington  in  July,  1803;  a  special  session  of 
Congress  was  held  in  October  to  consider  it, 
and  after  two  days  of  discussion  it  was 
ratified,  and  a  resolution  passed  to  carry  it 
121 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

into  effect,  and  the  ownership  and  control  of 
this  vast  territory  were  turned  over  to  the 
United  States  before  the  close  of  the  year 
1803. 

THE    NATIONAL    AREA    DOUBLED    BY  THE 
PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA 

The  area  of  the  Louisiana  territory  thus 
purchased  for  $15,000,000  was,  as  recently 
estimated  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office,  883,072  square  miles,  or  slightly 
more  than  that  of  the  entire  United  States 
when  the  purchase  was  made,  the  national 
area  prior  to  that  time  having  been  827,844 
square  miles.  Thus,  in  this  single  purchase 
the  area  of  the  country  was  actually  more 
than  doubled.  A  right  to  the  permanent  use 
of  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf 
was  thus  assured,  as  the  United  States,  after 
the  purchase,  became  the  owner  of  the  terri 
tory  on  both  sides  of  that  stream  from  the 
source  to  the  mouth.  The  population  of  the 
area  included  in  this  purchase  was  estimated 
at  100,000,  of  whom  about  50,000  were 
whites,  40,000  negroes,  and  10,000  mulattoes. 
The  population  of  the  United  States  was 
122 


The  Louisiana  Purchase 

then  about  6,00^000,  of  which  number  about 
600,000  wei^i  the  territory  west  of  the 
^  The  territory  thus  obtained  is 
greater«irea  than  Great  Britain,  Germany, 
Franc^Mpain,  Portugal,  and  Italy  combined, 
and  from  it  were  subsequently  formed,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  fourteen  States  and  Terri 
tories,  which  had  in  1900  a  population  of 
15,000,000. 

BOUNDARIES  OF  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE 

The  boundaries  of  the  territory  thus  ceded 
were  extremely  indefinite.  The  treaty  of 
cession  by  France  simply  ceded  the  territory 
"  with  the  same  extent  that  it  now  has  in  the 
hands  o£  Spain  and  that  it  had  when  France 
possessed  it." 

It  was  supposed  by  some  that  the  area 
east  of  the  Mississippi  included  more  than 
the  island  of  New  Orleans,  and  by  the  others 
that  it  extended  at  the  northwest  to  the 
Pacific.  This  view  regarding  the  western 
boundaries  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the 
view  of  President  Jefferson,  under  whose 
administration  it  was  purchased;  for  in 
November,  1803,  he  said  in  a  letter  to 
123 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Captain  Lewis,  giving  him  his  instructions 
for  his  exploring  trip  to  the  Pacific:  "The 
boundaries  of  interior  Louisiana  are  the  high 
lands  enclosing  all  of  the  waters  tjJnch  run 
into  the  Mississippi  or  Missouri  c^ktly  or 
indirectly,  with  a  quarter  breadth  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico."  This  general  view  was  after 
ward  accepted  and  the  northwest  boundary 
fixed  along  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains.  In  the  southwest  the  question  of 
boundary  soon  arose  for  settlement.  The 
Spanish  claimed  that  the  western  boundary 
included  only  a  very  narrow  strip  of  land 
west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  while 
the  United  States  claimed  that  it  extended 
to  the  Rio  Grande ;  and  the  Sabine  River, 
about  one-third  of  the  distance  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Rio  Grande,  was  finally 
adopted  as  the  southwestern  boundary  of  the 
Louisiana  territory. 

The  next  step  in  subdivision  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  occurred  in  the 
new  area  known  as  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 
In  March  of  1804,  less  than  one  year  after  its 
purchase,  and  but  three  months  after  the 
United  States  had  taken  possession,  Congress 
124 


tT — ^ 


,£ 


,-•'     J 


125 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

organized  the  extreme  southern  part  of  the 
Purchase  as  the  "Territory  of  Orleans,"  its 
boundaries  being  substantially  those  of  the 
present  State  of  Louisiana.  It  remained  a 
Territory  until  1812,  when  it  was  admitted  as 
the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  not  included  in  the 
"  Territory  of  Orleans "  was  called  the 
"District  of  Louisiana."  Aftentfaid  it  was 
made  the  " Territory  of  Louisiana"  and  St. 
Louis  was  made  the  capital. 


j 


126 


SEVENTH  PEEIOD 

THE    MIDDLE    WEST  SUBDIVIDED FLORIDA 

PURCHASED 

THE  next  step  in  subdivision  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan 
from  the  northeastern  part  of  the  great 
Territory  of  Indiana,  which  included  the  area 
now  known  as  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Michigan,  and  part  of  Minnesota.  This  was 
too  large  an  area  to  be  governed  as  a  single 
tract  or  from  a  single  point,  especially  in  those 
days  of  slow  communication.  Its  population 
was  rapidly  increasing,  and  in  1805  the  area 
lying  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan 
was  organized  as  the  Territory  of  Michigan, 
with  William  Hull  as  Governor.  The  area 
had  been  under  French  officers  for  more  than 
one  hundred  and  .fifty  years,  beginning  with 
Champlain  in  1622  and  ending  with  De 
Cavagnac  in  1763  ;  then  under  British  offi 
cials  from  that  date  until  some  years  after 
127 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  close  of  the  Revolution ;  then  a  part 
of  the  original  Northwest  Territory  under 
Governor  St.  Clair;  then  a  part  of  the 
Territory  of  Indiana  under  William  Henry 
Harrison.  For  several  years  Michigan  proved 
a  convenient  nucleus  to  which  to  attach  con 
tiguous  territory  for  temporaiy  government. 
In  1818  the  area  lying  west  of  Lake  Michigan, 
including  what  is  now  Wisconsin  and  upper 
Michigan,  was  attached  to  Michigan  for  pur 
poses  of  government,  and  in  1834  the  area 
between  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers 
north  of  the  State  of  Missouri  was  also  at. 
tached  to  it,  thus  bringing  within  its  borders 
the  area  now  known  as  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  part  of  North  and 
South  Dakota.  It  continued  in  this  form 
until  the  eastern  part  was  admitted  as  a  State 
in  1837. 

BURR'S  ATTEMPT  TO  ESTABLISH  [A  NEW 
GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST 

About  this  time  occurred  an  incident  which 
threatened  a  loss  of  territory  to  the  young  re 
public.     Aaron  Burr,  son  of  the  president  of 
the  University  of  New  Jersey,  and  himself 
128 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 

highly  educated,  had  been  by  turns  an  officer 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  a  Senator  from  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States.  During  his  term  as  Vice- 
President  he  had  killed  Alexander  Hamilton 
in  a  duel  resulting  from  a  political  feud,  and 
this  event  had  destroyed  his  popularity  and 
political  prospects.  In  1805  he  developed  a 
scheme  for  the  establishment  of  an  independ 
ent  government  in  the  Southwest.  He  made 
a  trip  down  the  Ohio  from  Pittsburg  to  New 
Orleans,  and  after  his  return  began  enlisting 
the  cooperation  of  persons  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  His  plans  were  never  clearly  stated, 
but  were  understood  to  be  the  seizure  of  the 
government  of  Mexico,  and,  if  possible,  a 
combination  with  it  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
and  the  States  west  of  the  Alleghanies  ;  to 
make  himself  King  or  Emperor  of  Mexico, 
or,  if  the  western  States  could  be  persuaded 
to  join  with  him,  to  establish  a  republic  with 
himself  as  its  head  and  New  Orleans  as  its 
capital. 

He  organized  a  flotilla  of  boats  on  the 
Ohio,  enlisted  the  cooperation,  secret  or  open, 
of  all  whom  he  could  persuade  to  join  him, 
129 


Expansion   of  Our  Territory 

made  friends  by  artful  schemes  with  as  many 
public  men  as  possible,  communicating  to 
each  as  much  or  little  of  his  real  designs  as 
he  saw  fit.  Believing  that  his  former  friend, 
the  Governor  of  the  Louisiana  Territory, 
General  Wilkinson,  would  cooperate  with 
him,  he  sent  letters  to  him  by  a  secret  agent, 
but  Wilkinson  after  receiving  the  letters 
hastened  a  messenger  to  Washington  to 
notify  President  Jefferson,  notified  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Orleans  Territory,  in  which  New 
Orleans  was  located,  and  called  a  meeting  of 
the  merchants  and  leading  citizens  of  that 
place  and  laid  the  facts  before  them.  The 
President  issued  a  proclamation  announcing 
that  he  had  been  informed  of  a  plot  to  in 
vade  Spanish  territory  and  warning  citizens 
of  the  United  States  not  to  engage  in  it,  and 
the  Legislatures  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  au 
thorized  the  seizure  of  Burr's  boats,  and  a  re 
ward  was  offered  for  the  capture  of  Burr. 
His  forces  were  soon  scattered  and  he  at 
tempted  to  escape,  but  was  arrested  in  Mis 
sissippi,  taken  to  Richmond  and  tried  on  a 
charge  of  treason  and  concocting  a  scheme 
for  the  overthrow  of  national  authority  in  the 
130 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 

western  States  and  Territories  ;  but  proof  was 
not  sufficiently  definite  and  he  was  acquitted. 
He  soon  left  the  country,  but  found  himself 
the  object  of  suspicion  in  the  European  coun 
tries  which  he  visited,  and  after  years  of  ab 
sence  returned  to  New  York  disguised  and 
under  an  assumed  name ;  and  as  no  further 
action  was  taken  against  him,  remained  there 
in  the  practise  of  law  and  in  comparative  ob 
scurity  and  poverty  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  on  Long  Island  at  the  age  of  eighty. 
Thus  two  attempts  to  induce  the  people 
of  the  West  to  sever  their  allegiance  to  the 
young  nation — the  first,  made  upon  the  peo 
ple  of  Kentucky  by  the  Spanish  in  the  territ 
tory  just  west  of  that  section,  and  the  second, 
that  of  Burr — had  utterly  failed. 

THE  TERRITORY  OF   ILLINOIS  CREATED 

The  rapid  growth  of  population  in  the  val 
leys  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  and  the 
Great  Lakes  soon  made  it  necessary  to  again 
subdivide  that  area.  By  1809  there  were 
30,000  people  scattered  over  the  great  area 
included  within  the  Territory  of  Indiana. 
About  20,000  of  these  were  in  the  eastern 
131 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

section,  just  west  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and 
were  anxious  for  a  division  and  preparation 
for  statehood.  Accordingly,  in  1809  it  was 
given  what  was  called  the  "  second  grade  of 
territorial  government,"  being  established  as 
a  Territory  with  a  Legislature,  and  with 
boundaries  substantially  the  same  as  those 
which  the  State  of  Indiana  now  has.  The 
remainder  of  what  had  been  included  within 
its  borders  was  established  as  a  new  Territory 
and  given  the  name  of  Illinois. 

The  Territory  of  Illinois,  which  was  thus 
created  in  1809,  by  the  division  of  the  In 
diana  Territory,  included  what  is  now  the 
States  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  that  part  of 
Minnesota  which  lies  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  part  of  the  upper  peninsula  of 
Michigan.  The  census  of  1810  showed  that 
it  had  in  that  year,  one  year  after  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Territory,  a  population  of  12,282, 
in  all  the  area  stretching  from  the  Ohio  to  the 
Canadian  line,  and  from  the  Mississippi  to  its 
eastern  boundary.  Within  that  area  in  1900 
there  were  7,000,000  people,  or  about  as  many 
as  the  entire  country  had  in  the  year  in  which 
the  Territory  of  Illinois  was  established. 
132 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 


THE  WAR  OF  1812 

The  war  between  England  and  France, 
which  had  caused  Napoleon  to  give  Louisiana 
territory  to  the  United  States  at  a  great  bar 
gain,  resulted  in  some  other  ways  to  the  dis 
advantage  of  the  United  States.  Owing  to 
the  existence  of  that  war,  British  vessels, 
under  the  laws  of  war,  captured  not  only 
French  vessels  on  the  high  seas,  but  also 
other  vessels  engaged  in  commerce  between 
the  French  colonies  and  France.  To  avoid 
this,  the  products  of  the  French  colonies  were 
shipped  to  the  United  States  in  American 
vessels  and  thence  reshipped  to  France  and 
elsewhere ;  but  the  British  admiralty  courts 
decided  that  such  goods  could  be  recaptured 
even  though  they  had  been  landed  in  the 
United  States.  It  was  also  held  that  English 
men  serving  on  board  of  American  vessels 
could  be  seized  and  impressed  into  the  British 
service. 

As  a  result  of  this,  large  numbers  of 
American  vessels  were  captured  by  the  Brit 
ish,  and  many  American  sailors  impressed 
into  the  British  service  on  the  claim  that 
133 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

they  were  former  British  citizens.  In  the 
years  which  followed  hundreds  of  American 
vessels  were  seized  and  thousands  of  Ameri 
can  citizens  impressed  into  service  on  British 
vessels,  on  the  claim  above  described.  Acts 
were  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  restricting  and  absolutely  prohibiting 
the  importation  of  merchandise  from  England 
or  English  colonies,  and  finally  prohibiting 
foreign  commerce  of  all  kinds  ;  but  these  did 
not  serve  the  expected  purpose,  as  American 
vessels  still  went  to  sea  and  were  still  captured 
by  the  British,  and  finally,  in  1812,  war  was 
declared  against  England. 

The  war  was  partly  on  land  and  partly 
on  the  ocean.  That  on  land  was  chiefly 
conducted  along  the  border  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  and  in  it  the 
American  troops  did  not  meet  with  great  suc 
cess.  The  British  took  possession  of  Detroit, 
also  Fort  Dearborn,  where  now  Chicago 
stands,  and  later  of  most  of  the  coast  of  Maine. 
The  Americans  occupied  the  British  forts  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Niagara.  The  British 
landed  a  force  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and 
captured  Washington,  the  capital  of  the  na- 
134 


,^^c^    .7 


\  4        J^"    *S^         * 


10 


135 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

tion ;  but  after  burning  the  Capitol,  Execu 
tive  Mansion,  and  other  public  buildings, 
withdrew  to  their  vessels.  Meantime,  how 
ever,  the  Americans,  who  were  expert  sailors, 
had  been  more  successful  in  contests  at  sea 
with  British  vessels,  and  finally,  after  many 
brilliant  victories  by  the  Americans  on  the 
ocean  and  Lakes,  the  war  terminated  in  1814. 
The  opposing  forces  gave  up  the  captured 
territory,  and  there  were  no  changes  in  the 
boundary  lines  or  area  of  the  United  States. 

ACTIVITY  IN  STATE-MAKING 

The  close  of  the  war  was  the  signal  for 
activity  in  the  addition  of  new  States  to  the 
Union.  Even  before  its  close,  in  the  very 
year  of  its  actual  beginning,  one  new  State 
had  been  created,  Orleans  Territory  having 
been  in  that  year  admitted  under  the  name  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  seven  years  fol 
lowing  the  close  of  the  war  six  new  States 
were  admitted.  They  were  Indiana,  Mis 
sissippi,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Maine,  and  Mis 
souri. 

The  work  of  transforming  the  western 
area  into  States  had  progressed  in  distinct 
136 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 

periods.  The  first  two  States  admitted  were 
permitted  to  come  in  without  any  territorial 
apprenticeship.  They  were  Vermont,  and 
Kentucky.  Tennessee  and  Ohio,  which  came 
in  as  States  in  1796  and  1802,  had  been  re 
spectively  a  part  of  the  territory  south  and 
northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  each  for  a  short 
time  a  separate  territory.  During  the  next 
ten  years,  from  1802  to  1812,  the  future 
States  were  being  given  an  apprenticeship  as 
Territories.  In  that  time  the  Territories  of 
Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Mississippi,  and 
Orleans  had  been  formed.  In  1812  began  a 
period  of  activity  in  State-making.  In  that 
year  the  Orleans  Territory  was  admitted  as 
the  State  of  Louisiana,  followed  in  rapid 
succession  by  Indiana,  Mississippi,  Illinois, 
Alabama,  Maine,  and  Missouris — even  States 
being  admitted  in  less  than  a  decade.  In 
their  admission,  too,  the  custom  which  had 
been  established  in  earlier  years  of  alter 
nating  free  and  slave  territory  was  followed, 
the  order  of  admission  being:  Louisiana, 
Indiana ;  Mississippi,  Illinois ;  Alabama,  Maine ; 
and  Missouri. 


137 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


WEST  FLORIDA  ADDED  TO  THE  NATIONAL  AREA 

The  years  1810  and  1812  witnessed  a 
small  and  unexpected  addition  to  the  terri 
torial  area  of  the  United  States.  Florida, 
as  has  already  been  stated,  was  originally 
Spanish  territory,  but  had  been  in  1763 
given  by  Spain  to  England  in  exchange  for 
Cuba,  which  the  English  had  captured,  during 
the  war  between  England  and  France  in 
which  the  Spanish  Government  cooperated 
with  France,  thus  rendering  its  territory 
liable  to  seizure  by  the  British.  The  British 
soon  after  occupying  Florida  divided  it 
into  two  provinces,  East  Florida  and  West 
Florida.  West  Florida  extended  from  the 
Chattahoochee  and  Appalachicola  Rivers  to 
the  Mississippi  River  above  Lakes  Pontchar- 
train  and  Maurepas.  It  was  already  peopled 
by  English  colonists  and  at  that  time  formed 
the  fourteenth  British  colony  south  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.  By  1782  the  Spanish  had 
obtained  possession  of  much  of  the  territo 
ry,  and  both  East  and  West  Florida  were 
re-ceded  to  Spain  by  Great  Britain  in  1783, 
at  the  same  time  that  she  acknowledged  the 
138 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 

independence  of  the  United  States  and  fixed 
the  boundaries  of  the  territory  which  she 
ceded  to  them. 

The  population  of  West  Florida,  however, 
was  chiefly  of  English  birth  or  from  other 
English  colonies,  and  did  not  relish  the  con 
trol  of  the  Spanish.  After  the  Spanish  ter 
ritory  of  Louisiana  had  been  ceded  to  France 
and  by  France  to  the  United  States,  the  people 
of  West  Florida  desired  annexation  to  the 
United  States  rather  than  Spanish  control. 
This  desire  was  increased  by  a  rumor  that 
the  French  were  contemplating  the  seizure 
of  West  Florida.  Accordingly  a  convention 
was  held  in  1810  and  West  Florida  declared 
a  free  and  independent  State,  a  government 
organized  and  officers  named,  and  a  copy  of 
the  declaration  was  sent  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States  through  the  Governor  of 
Mississippi.  President  Madison  in  October 
of  the  same  year  issued  a  proclamation  de 
claring  West  Florida  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States,  and  directing  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Orleans  Territory  to  take  posses 
sion.  This  action  was  based  upon  a  claim 
that  the  area  was  acquired  by  the  Louisi-^ 
139 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

ana  Purchase,  the  eastern  limits  of  that  pur 
chase  east  of  the  Mississippi  having  been  long 
a  matter  of  dispute.  The  Governor  of  Or 
leans  Territory  promptly  obeyed  the  Presi 
dent's  direction,  hoisting  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  on  December  6,  1810,  less 
than  three  months  after  the  people  of  West 
Florida  had  declared  themselves  a  free  and 
independent  State.  The  annexation  called 
forth  protests  from  Spain  and  England,  but 
without  result.  In  1812  the  United  States 
took  possession  of  another  section  immediate 
ly  east  of  that  which  they  occupied  in  1810. 
The  Territory  of  Orleans  was  admitted  as 
the  State  of  Louisiana  in  1812,  and  that  part 
of  West  Florida  lying  west  of  the  Pearl 
River  was  added  to  Louisiana,  and  the  re 
mainder,  lying  between  the  Pearl  and  Per- 
dido  Rivers,  was  attached  to  the  Territory  of 
Mississippi,  giving  it  a  frontage  upon  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  name  "  Louisiana,"  by 
which  the  whole  territory  ceded  by  France 
had  been  formerly  known,  having  been  given 
to  the  new  State  of  Louisiana,  the  remainder 
of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  was  then  desig 
nated  as  "  The  Territory  of  Missouri." 
140 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 

STATE  OF  INDIANA 

Indiana  Territory,  which  had  been  cut  in 
two  in  1809,  the  eastern  part  retaining  the 
name  of  Indiana  Territory  and  the  western 
part  given  the  name  of  Illinois  Territory,  was 
in  1816  admitted  as  a  State  with  substantially 
its  present  boundaries.  It  came  in  as  a  free 
State,  being  a  part  of  the  area  of  the  "  Terri 
tory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio,"  which  had  been 
specifically  made  free  territory  by  the  Ordi 
nance  of  1787, 

STATE  OF  MISSISSIPPI 

In  1817  the  Territory  of  Mississippi  was 
divided  into  two  sections,  the  eastern  part 
established  as  the  Territory  of  Alabama  and 
the  western  part  admitted  as  the  State  of 
Mississippi.  The  line  dividing  Mississippi 
and  Alabama  was  so  drawn  as  to  give  to  each 
of  these  a  section  of  the  West  Florida  area, 
and  thus  to  each  a  Gulf  frontage.  The 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Indians  at  that  time 
occupied  a  considerable  area  in  what  is  now 
the  northern  part  of  Mississippi,  but  were  sub 
sequently  removed  to  the  Indian  Territory. 
Mississippi  came  in  as  a  slave  State,  and  was 
141 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

considered    an    offset  to  the   free   State   of 
Indiana,  admitted  in  the  preceding  year. 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS 

The  next  year,  1818,  the  Territory  of 
Illinois,  which  then  included  the  present 
States  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  parts  of 
Minnesota  and  Michigan,  was  cut  in  two 
and  all  of  the  territory  north  of  the  present 
boundary  of  Illinois  was  attached  temporarily 
to  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  and  the  re 
mainder  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  the 
State  of  Illinois,  with  boundaries  substantially 
the  same  as  those  at  present.  That  section 
had  been  called  the  "  Illinois  Country  "  from 
the  time  of  its  occupancy  by  the  French,  and, 
after  Clarke  had  taken  possession  of  it  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  had  been  attached  to 
Virginia  and  called  the  "  County  of  Illinois," 
but  was  included  in  the  Virginia  cession  and 
was  a  part  of  the  area  established  as  the 
"  Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio." 

STATE  OF  ALABAMA 

Alabama  was  the  next  State   admitted. 
Most  of   its   area  had   been  a  part   of  the 
142 


The  Middle  West  Subdivided 

Georgia  colony,  and  after  being  ceded  by 
Georgia  in  1802,  was  incorporated  with  that 
small  rectangular  section  at  the  extreme 
southwest  acquired  from  Great  Britain  by  the 
peace  treaty  of  1783,  as  the  Territory  of  Mis 
sissippi.  To  Georgia  and  Mississippi  Terri 
tory  was  added  on  the  north  the  western 
part  of  the  long,  narrow  strip  of  land  ceded 
to  the  common  Union  by  South  Carolina, 
while  there  had  also  been  added  at  the  ex 
treme  south  a  small  section  of  land  front 
ing  on  the  Gulf  between  the  Perdido  and 
Pea,rl  Rivers,  formerly  claimed  as  a  part  of 
Florida,  which  had  been  taken  possession  of 
by  the  United  States  Government  in  1810. 
The  new  State  of  Alabama  when  admitted 
in  1819  thus  included  within  its  limits  apart 
of  the  original  territory  of  the  colony  of 
Georgia,  a  part  of  that  of  the  colony  of 
South  Carolina,  a  part  of  the  original  terri 
tory  of  Mississippi  as  ceded  by  Great  Brit 
ain  in  1783,  and  a  part  of  the  West  Florida 
Territory  taken  possession  of  in  1812  under 
the  claim  that  it  was  really  a  part  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase. 


143 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


THE  FLORIDA  PURCHASE 

A  new  and  important  development  oc 
curred  in  1819,  being  no  less  than  the  addi 
tion  of  Florida  to  the  territory  of  the  Union. 
It  had  long  been  desired,  both  because  of  the 
feeling  that  it  would  round  out  the  possessions 
of  the  United  States  and  give  it  a  continuous 
water  frontage  from  Maine  to  Texas,  and  also 
because  it  had  been  a  refuge  for  escaping 
slaves  from  Georgia  and  a  source  of  constant 
friction  and  frequent  hostilities  between  the 
^^  ^people  of  the  two  sections,  Florida,  it  will 
[  /  be  remembered,  had  been  constantly  in  the 
J/  possession  of  Spain  from  the  discovery  until 
1763,  when  it  was  ceded  to  England  in  ex 
change  for  Cuba.  In  1783  it  was  receded  to 
Spain,  and  in  1795  Spain  sold  West  Florida, 
to  France,  and  it  was  claimed  by  the  United 
States  as  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase, 
and  finally  taken  possession  of,  as  already 
described,  in  1810.  Easf  Florida,  which  re 
mained  in  the  possession  of  Spain,  was  not 
only  a  refuge  for  escaping  slaves  from  Geor 
gia,  but  the  Spanish  permitted  the  English 
to  make  it  a  base  of  operations  for  their/' 
144 


The  Florida  Purchase 

troops  during  the  war  between  the  United 
States  and  England  in  1812-14.  In  1814 
Jackson  invaded  it  and  captured  Pensacola, 
where  a  British  force  had  established  itself. 
During  the  years  which  followed  there  was 
much  trouble  between  the  people  of  Georgia 
and  the  Indians  of  Florida,  among  whom 
escaped  slaves  had  taken  refuge,  and  in  1818 
Jackson  again  invaded  Florida  believing  that 
he  had  at  least  the  tacit  consent  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  do  so,  He  found  there  a  Scotch 
trader  named  Arbuthnot  and  an  English  ex- 
Lieutenant  of  Marines,  Ambrister,  whom  he 
believed  to  be  there  by  the  assent  of  the 
British  Government  to  encourage  the  Indi 
ans  to  hostilities  against  the  people  across 
the  border  of  the  United  States,  and  he  cap 
tured  and  executed  them.  Meantime,  the 
slave  power  was  urging  the  acquisition  of 
Florida,  both  for  a  protection  of  the  slave 
interests  of  the  adjacent  territory  and  because 
its  ownership  would  give  additional  slave 
territory,  and  several  offers  were  made  for  its 
purchase  but  declined  by  Spain.  Finally,  in 
181 9,  the  Spanish  ambassador  signed  a  treaty 
for  the  cession  of  Florida  in  extinction  of 
145 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

various  American  claims  for  the  satisfaction 
of  which  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  to 
the  various  claimants  the  sum  of  $5,000,000. 
The  sum  finally  paid,  including  interest,  is 
stated  by  Commissioner  Hermann,  of  the 
United  States  General  Land  Office,  as  $6,- 
489,768.  The  treaty  was  not  ratified  by  the 
Spanish  until  1821,  when  the  United  States 
took  possession  of  Florida  and  established  it 
in  1822  as  the  Territory  of  Florida. 

BOUNDARIES  OF  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE 
DEFINED 

One  important  feature  of  the  treaty  by 
which  this  cession  was  made  was  that  it  spe 
cifically  defined  the  boundaries  between  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  and  the  territory  held  by 
the  Spanish  at  the  west  and  southwest.  The 
claim  had  been  made  by  the  United  States 
that  her  purchase  of  the  Louisiana  Territory 
included  the  Texas  country,  but  this  was  de 
nied  by  Spain,  who  claimed  it  as  a  part  of 
Mexico.  By  the  Florida  cession  treaty  the 
boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico  was  fixed  at  the  Sabine  River,  the 
United  States  thus  abandoning  her  claim  to 
146 


The  Florida  Purchase 

Texas.  In  exchange  for  this,  however,  Spain 
relinquished  her  claims  on  the  Pacific  coast 
north  of  the  42d  degree  of  north  latitude; 
a  fact  which  proved  of  importance  to  the 
United  States  in  later  years  in  establishing 
her  claim  to  the  Oregon  Territory.  It  was 
by  this  agreement  that  the  claims  of  the 
Spanish  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  were 
definitely  fixed  at  what  is  now  the  northern 
boundary  of  California  and  Nevada.  The 
treaty  also  confirmed  the  title  of  the  United 
States  to  West  Florida,  of  which  they  had 
already  taken  possession  on  the  claim  that  it 
was  included  with  the  Louisiana  cession  of 
France.  This  purchase  of  Florida  was  the 
second  addition  of  area  to  that  ceded  by 
Great  Britain  to  the  colonies  in  1783,  and 
gave  to  the  United  States  an  undisputed 
water  frontage  from  Maine  on  the  east  to 
Texas  on  the  west. 

ARKANSAS  TERRITORY  CREATED 

In  the  same  year  that  Florida  was  pur 
chased  a  section  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
lying  just  north  of  the  new  State  of  Louisiana 
was  established  as  the  Territory  of  Arkansas. 
147 


148 


The  Florida  Purchase 

As  constituted  in  1819  it  included  all  of  the 
present  State  of  Arkansas  and  most  of  the 
area  now  known  as  Indian  Territory  and  Ok 
lahoma.  Its  eastern  boundary  was  the  Mis 
sissippi  River  and  it  extended  west  to  the 
western  limits  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 


149 


EIGHTH   PEKIOD 

THE    SLAVERY    QUESTION   IN   ITS    KELATION   TO 
STATEHOOD 

MAINE  was  the  next  State  admitted  to  the 
Union.  During  one  hundred  and  forty  years 
it  had  been  considered  a  part  of  Massachu 
setts  and  governed  by  it,  although  not  con 
tiguous  territory.  The  territory  had  in  1606 
been  granted  by  James  I  to  a  company  of 
English,  but  they  made  no  permanent  settle 
ment.  In  1620  the  charter  of  New  England 
was  granted;  and  in  1622  the  country  be 
tween  the  Merrimac  and  Kennebec  Rivers 
had  been  granted  under  this  charter  to  Cap 
tain  John  Mason  and  Fernando  Gorges.  In 
1829  it  was  divided  and  the  section  between 
the  Piscataqua  and  the  Kennebec  fell  to 
Gorges,  who  established  a  colony.  After  his 
death  Massachusetts  laid  claim  to  the  terri 
tory  upon  the  ground  that  it  had  been  in 
cluded  in  the  charter  of  New  England  in 
150 


The  Slavery   Question 

1620.  Her  claims  being  disallowed,  she  pur 
chased  the  territory  from  the  heirs  of  Gorges 
in  1677  for  £1,250.  In  1691  the  charter  of 
William  and  Mary  also  included  Maine  in 
the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The 
people  of  Maine  took  part  in  the  Revolution 
ary  War,  and  soon  after  its  close  began  to 
agitate  the  question  of  separation  from  Mas 
sachusetts  and  the  formation  of  a  State,  but 
made  little  progress  until  after  1800,  when 
Maine  became  "Anti-Federalist,"  while  Mas 
sachusetts  remained  Federalist.  This  diver 
gence  of  views  increased  the  desire  for  a 
separation,  to  which  the  Legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts  finally  assented,  and  in  1820  Congress 
passed  an  act  establishing  Maine  as  a  sepa 
rate  State,  after  one  hundred  and  forty  years 
of  control  by  Massachusetts.  It  was  the 
tenth  State  admitted  after  the  formation  of 
the  Union,  and  the  twenty -third  in  the  full 
list  of  States. 

THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE  AND  THE  STATE  OF 
MISSOURI 

Missouri  was  the  next  State  admitted  after 
Maine.     The  measures  providing  for  the  ad- 
11  151 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

mission  of  these  two  States  were  discussed  in 
Congress  simultaneously  and  passed  within  a 
few  days  of  each  other;  but  as  the  act  with 
reference  to  Maine  established  it  as  a  State, 
while  that  regarding  Missouri  merely  author 
ized  the  people  to  frame  a  Constitution  pre 
paratory  to  admission,  Maine  actually  became 
a  State  in  the  year  preceding  that  in  which 
Missouri  was  admitted. 

The  admission  of  Missouri  was  marked  by 
a  bitter  struggle  between  the  opponents  and 
supporters  of  slavery.  It  involved  the  ques 
tion  as  to  whether  the  great  area  included  in 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  should  be  free  or  slave 
territory.  This  question  had  been  more  or 
less  discussed  in  the  years  following  the  pur. 
chase,  but  did  not  come  up  for  settlement 
when  the  State  of  Louisiana  was  admitted, 
since  slavery  had  been  so  long  a  recognized 
institution  in  that  section.  But  when  the 
Territory  of  Missouri  asked  admission  it  was 
felt  that  the  matter  must  be  determined. 
Most  of  the  area  of  the  proposed  State  lay 
north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  which 
stream  had  been  considered  the  northern 
boundary  of  slave  territory,  especially  as  the 
152 


The  Slavery  Question 

ordinance  establishing  the  Territory  North 
west  of  the  Ohio  had  forever  prohibited 
slavery  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  strug 
gle  in  Congress  was  long  and  exciting,  and 
public  meetings  were  held  in  the  North  and 
South  advocating  the  views  of  those  sections 
respectively  with  reference  to  this  matter. 
The  House  passed  a  bill  admitting  Missouri 
without  slavery,  and  the  Senate  struck  out 
the  anti-slavery  clause.  A  bill  admitting  Mis 
souri  with  slavery  was  attached  to  a  bill  ad 
mitting  Maine  without  slavery,  with  the  hope 
of  strengthening  the  slavery  forces.  After  a 
long  struggle  a  compromise  was  proposed 
separating  the  Maine  and  Missouri  measures, 
admitting  Missouri  as  a  slave  State  with  a 
distinct  declaration  that  slavery  should  be 
forever  prohibited  in  the  remainder  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  north  of  36°  30'  of  north 
latitude,  except  as  to  Missouri,  which  was 
north  of  that  line.  This  proposition,  known 
in  the  history  of  the  country  as  "  The  Mis 
souri  Compromise,"  was  accepted,  and  the 
Maine  and  Missouri  bills  passed.  Maine  be 
came  a  State  at  once,  and  in  the  following 
year  Missouri,  having  formed  a  Constitution 
153 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

providing  that  the  Legislature  should  not  en 
act  laws  interfering  with  slavery,  was  ad 
mitted  in  1821. 

The  sectional  feeling  over  this  struggle 
was  intense,  and  a  member  of  Congress  said 
in  the  debate  that  "  a  fire  had  been  kindled 
which  all  the  waters  of  the  ocean  can  not 
put  out,  and  which  only  seas  of  blood  can 
extinguish  " ;  a  remark  which  proved  true  in 
the  Civil  War  which  began  forty  years  later. 
The  population  of  the  great  Territory  of  Mis 
souri,  as  the  Louisiana  Purchase  north  of 
Arkansas  was  then  known,  was,  in  1820,  66,- 
500,  and  a  large  proportion  of  this  number 
were  included  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  The 
remainder  of  the  Territory  continued  for 
some  time  to  be  known  as  the  Territory  of 
Missouri,  but  the  name  was  subsequently 
changed  to  "  The  Indian  Country."  The  west 
ern  boundary  of  the  State  when  admitted 
extended  in  a  line  due  north  from  the  south 
ern  to  the  northern  boundary,  but  in  1836  was 
so  changed  as  to  follow  the  Missouri  River 
northwestwardly  from  the  point  at  which  it 
touched  that  river,  the  present  location  of 
Kansas  City,  to  its  northern  boundary  line. 
154 


The  Slavery  Question 

BALANCE  OP  POWER  BETWEEN  FREE  AND  SLAVE 
STATES 

During  the  next  fifteen  years  no  new 
States  were  admitted.  The  struggle  over  the 
slavery  question  had  been  fierce,  and  the  ad 
dition  of  Missouri  as  a  slave  State  established 
an  exact  balance  between  the  free  and  slave 
States  in  the  Senate,  in  which  each  State  was 
entitled  to  two  members.  There  were  twenty- 
four  States.  Seven  of  the  original  thirteen 
abolished  slavery  either  prior  to  or  shortly 
after  the  union,  viz. :  New  Hampshire,  Massa 
chusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania.1  Five 
of  the  States  subsequently  admitted  were  also 
without  slavery,  viz.  :  Vermont,  Ohio,  Indi- 

i  The  Massachusetts  constitution  of  1780  declared  that  "  all 
men  are  born  free  and  equal,"  and  the  courts  held  this  to  be  an 
abolition  of  slavery  in  that  State.  Pennsylvania  passed  a  gradual 
emancipation  act  in  1780,  and  similar  action  was  taken  in  New 
Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island  between  1780  and 
1785,  by  New  York  in  1799,  and  New  Jersey  in  1804.  The 
total  number  of  colored  persons  of  African  descent  in  these 
States  is  given  by  the  census  of  1790  at  67,424,  out  of  a  total  of 
757,208  in  the  entire  United  States.  Of  this  number  25,978 
were  in  New  York,  14,185  in  New  Jersey,  10,274  in  Pennsylva 
nia,  5,572  in  Connecticut,  5,463  in  Massachusetts,  and  4,355  in 
Rhode  Island. 

155 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

ana,  Illinois,  and  Maine,  making  the  total 
number  of  free  States  twelve.  Six  of  the 
original  thirteen  were  slave  States,  viz.  :  Dela 
ware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia ;  and  six  of  the 
States  subsequently  admitted  permitted  sla 
very,  viz. :  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  Missouri,  making 
the  total  number  of  slave  States  twelve.  The 
area  of  the  twelve  free  States  was  302,000 
square  miles,  that  of  the  twelve  slave  States 
523,000  square  miles.  In  1820  the  twelve 
free  States  had  5,152,000  population;  the 
twelve  slave  States  had  4,486,000,  of  which 
number  1,600,000  were  slaves.  In  1830  the 
twelve  free  States  had  7,006,000  population ; 
the  twelve  slave  States  had  5,848,000,  of 
whom  2,153,000  were  slaves.  In  1820  the 
free  States  had  24  members  of  the  Senate 
and  105  members  of  the  House;  the  slave 
States  had  24  members  of  the  Senate  and 
82  members  of  the  House.  In  1832  the 
free  States  had  still  24  members  of  the 
Senate  and  141  members  of  the  House; 
the  slave  States  had  24  members  of  the  Sen 
ate  and  99  members  of  the  House.  Thus, 
156 


The   Slavery   Question 

while  the  free  States  had  a  majority  of  the 
House,  the  free  and  slave  States  were  evenly 
balanced  in  the  Senate,  a  condition  which 
continued  from  1820  to  1850.  "While  the 
power  of  the  free  and  slave  States  was 
thus  evenly  balanced  in  the  Senate,  the  sup 
porters  of  slavery  recognized  the  fact  that 
the  expansive  power  of  the  free  territory  was 
much  greater  than  that  of  the  slave  territory 
in  the  matter  of  State-making.  By  the  Or 
dinance  of  1787  it  had  been  decreed  that 
slavery  should  never  exist  in  the  Territory 
Northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  by  the  Missouri 
Compromise  it  had  been  agreed  that  there 
should  be  no  slavery  in  the  Louisiana  Pur 
chase  north  of  31?  30'  except  in  the  State  of 
Missouri.  The  great  free  area  north  and 
west  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri 
was  capable  of  furnishing  material  for  a  dozen 
States,  while  the  only  available  territory  for 
State-making  in  the  area  where  slavery  might 
be  maintained  was  the  territories  of  Florida 
and  Arkansas.  Having  by  the  admission  of 
Missouri  obtained  an  even  division  of  power 
in  the  Senate,  in  which  the  free  States  had 
formerly  always  had  a  majority,  the  slave 
157 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

States  discouraged  further  State-making,  while 
the  free  States,  remembering  the  bitterness  of 
the  Missouri  struggle,  were  not  anxious  to 
precipitate  further  strife  so  long  as  it  could 
be  delayed. 

The  only  important  changes  in  territorial 
lines  or  government  in  the  period  from  1821 
to  1834  were  the  establishment  of  Florida  as 
a  Territory  in  1822  and  a  reduction  in  the 
area  of  Arkansas  Territory  in  1824  and  1828, 
the  area  now  Oklahoma  and  Indian  Terri 
tory  being  detached  from  Arkansas  and 
restored  as  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase, 
from  which  it  had  been  taken. 

In  1834,  however,  the  growth  of  popula 
tion  in  the  Northwest  was  so  great  that  it 
became  apparent  that  there  must  be  some 
better  form  of  government.  There  were  a 
quarter  of  a  million  people  in  the  area  north 
of  Missouri,  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio.  In 
that  year,  therefore,  the  area  between  the 
northern  boundary  of  Missouri  and  Canada, 
and  extending  as  far  west  as  the  Missouri 
River,  was  attached  to  the  Territory  of  Michi 
gan,  for  purposes  of  government.  Michigan 
Territory,  after  this  was  accomplished,  in- 
158 


The  Slavery   Question 

eluded  all  of  the  present  States  of  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  parts  of 
North  and  South  Dakota,  an  area  of  325,000 
square  miles,  or  as  much  as  the  area  at  present 
occupied  by  the  original  thirteen  States. 


THE  OHIO  AND  MICHIGAN  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE 

The  people  of  Michigan  had  been  for 
several  years  clamoring  for  the  admission  of 
their  original  area  as  a  State  and  had  made  ap 
plication  to  Congress  for  authority  to  frame  a 
Constitution,  and  took  the  necessary  steps  for 
admission.  A  disagreement  between  Michi 
gan  and  Ohio  regarding  the  boundary  line 
delayed  action  by  Congress.  The  Michigan 
authorities  claimed  that  their  southern  line 
should  run  due  east  from  the  most  southerly 
part  of  Lake  Michigan  and  would  therefore 
touch  Lake  Erie  at  a  point  south  of  Toledo, 
thus  giving  that  place  and  its  important 
harbor  to  the  State  of  Michigan.  To  this 
the  people  and  authorities  of  Ohio  objected 
strenuously.  The  line  claimed  by  Michigan 
had  been  adopted  when  Michigan  Territory 
was  first  formed,  but  the  present  line,  67 
159 


Expansion   of  Our  Territory 

miles  farther  north,  had  been  adopted  when 
Ohio  and  Indiana  were  made  States.  The 
area  had  remained  under  control  of  Michigan 
until  1836,  when  the  Legislature  of  Ohio 
passed  an  act  organizing  the  disputed  terri 
tory  into  townships.  Each  State  appealed 
to  the  President,  who,  however,  took  no 
action.  The  Governor  of  Ohio  called  out 
the  State  militia  and  the  Governor  of  Michi 
gan  took  possession  of  Toledo.  Congress 
proposed  to  admit  Michigan  without  the 
disputed  territory,  but  to  give  it  in  exchange 
for  that  area  the  section  now  known  as  the 
northern  peninsula  of  Michigan.  The  propo 
sition  was  at  first  rejected  by  the  people  of 
Michigan,  but  finally  acceded  to  and  prepara 
tions  made  for  admission.  The  area  thus 
given  at  the  northwest  has  become  very 
valuable  by  reason  of  the  great  copper  and 
iron  mines  since  developed  in  that  section. 


ARKANSAS  AND  MICHIGAN  ADMITTED  AS  STATES 

Meantime  the  supporters  of  slavery  took 
steps  to  maintain  the  balance  of  power  which 
had  existed  in  the  Senate,  and  Arkansas  was 
160 


The  Slavery   Question 

proposed  for  statehood  and  application  made. 
Arkansas  was  admitted  in  June,  1836,  and 
Michigan  in  January,  1837.  The  slave  States 
had  thereafter  26  members  of  the  Senate  and 
the  free  States  also  26  members. 

Michigan,  as  has  already  been  stated,  in 
the  year  before  its  admission  as  a  State  in 
cluded  within  its  boundaries  all  of  the  area 
now  known  as  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota, 
and  parts  of  North  and  South  Dakota.  When 
Michigan  was  admitted  as  a  State  the  re 
maining  area  was  established  as  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin  and  so  continued  during  a  period 
of  about  two  years,  when  the  section  lying 
between  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers, 
from  the  State  of  Missouri  north  to  Canada 
was  in  1838  established  as  the  Territory  of 
Iowa.  The  Territory  of  Wisconsin  then  in 
cluded  all  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin 
and  that  part  of  Minnesota  east  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  River;  and  the  Territory  of  Iowa 
included  the  present  State  of  Iowa,  that  part 
of  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
that  part  of  North  and  South  Dakota  east  of 
the  Missouri  River. 


161 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


FLORIDA  AND  IOWA  ADMITTED  AS  STATES 

Another  long  period  of  delay  in  the 
admission  of  new  States  followed  the  simul 
taneous  admission  of  Michigan  and  Arkansas. 
The  people  of  Florida  desired  admission,  but 
many  of  them  desired  that  the  territory 
should  be  divided  into  two  States,  East  and 
West  Florida,  respectively ;  the  latter  to  con 
tain  at  least  a  part  of  the  area  which  had  been 
included  in  the  province  of  West  Florida,  and 
this  suggestion  was  quite  agreeable  to  those 
\vho  desired  to  see  as  many  slave  States  as 
possible.  The  division  proposition  was,  how 
ever,  finally  abandoned  and  application  made 
for  statehood.  Meantime  Iowa  had  also  asked 
admission  in  1844,  though  without  success; 
but  finally  the  propositions  for  the  admission 
of  Florida  and  Iowa  were  coupled  in  one  bill, 
which  became  a  law  March  3,  1845.  Florida 
had  already  framed  a  Constitution  and  was 
admitted  at  once,  but  the  people  of  Iowa 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  boundary  lines 
named  in  the  enabling  act  and  did  not  comply 
with  its  provisions.  The  boundaries  originally 
named  fixed  the  northern  limit  farther  north 
162 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

than  at  present,  but  made  the  western  bound 
ary  a  due  north  and  south  line  a  considerable 
distance  east  of  the  Missouri  River.  This 
was  unsatisfactory  to  the  people  of  Iowa,  and 
in  1846  a  new  act  was  passed  fixing  the 
western  boundary  on  the  Missouri  River,  and 
Iowa  became  a  State.  The  area  north  of  the 
State  of  Iowa  was  subsequently  established 
as  the  Territory  of  Minnesota.  The  area 
which  formed  the  State  of  Iowa  had  been 
successively  a  part  of  the  Territory  of 
Louisiana,  the  Territory  of  Missouri,  the 
Territory  of  Michigan,  the  Territory  of  Wis 
consin,  and  the  Territory  of  Iowa. 


164 


NINTH  PEKIOD 

TEXAS,    OREGON,    AND    THE    MEXICAN   WAR 

MEANTIME,  during  the  period  intervening 
between  the  admission  of  Arkansas  and  Michi 
gan  in  1836-37  and  the  admission  of  Florida 
and  Iowa  in  1845-46,  developments  of  great 
importance  were  in  progress  looking  to  the 
addition  of  new  territory  to  the  United 
States,  an  area  which  would  give  opportu 
nity  for  the  further  expansion  of  slavery. 
The  people  of  Mexico  had  revolted  against 
Spanish  rule  in  1810,  and  after  a  long 
series  of  struggles  were  in  1822  successful, 
and  in  1824  a  republican  government  was 
established  under  the  title  of  the  United 
States  of  Mexico,  with  a  system  of  govern 
ment  based  upon  that  of  the  United  States. 
Among  the  provinces  or  states  included  in 
this  Union  was  the  area  claimed  by  Mexico 
north  of  the  Kio  Grande,  which  at  the  time 
165 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

of  the  formation  of  the  republic  consisted  of 
the  provinces  or  states  of  Upper  California, 
New  Mexico,  and  "Texas  and  Coahuila," 
which  latter  were  admitted  to  the  Mexican 
Union  as  one  state.  The  United  States,  it 
will  be  remembered,  had  originally  claimed 
the  Texas  Territory  as  a  part  of  the  Louisi 
ana  Purchase,  but  had  finally  abandoned  it  in 
the  treaty  by  which  Florida  was  purchased 
and  the  boundaries  between  the  United 
States  and  Spanish  territory  fixed. 

TEXAS  ADDED  TO  THE  UNION 

But  there  still  remained  a  desire,  espe 
cially  in  the  Southwest,  to  see  Texas  become 
a  part  of  the  United  States,  and  an  offer  of 
$1,000,000  was  in  1827  made  to  the  Mexican 
Government  for  Texas,  and  another  of  $5,- 
000,000  in  1829,  but  were  successively  re 
jected.  Large  numbers  of  people  from  the 
Southwest  of  the  United  States  settled  in 
Texas  shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Republic  of  Mexico,  by  their  presence  and  in 
fluence  creating  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  an 
nexation  to  the  United  States.  In  1833  the 
Texans  attempted  to  obtain  a  separate  State 
166 


Texas 

government,  but  without  success ;  but  when 
the  Mexican  Congress  abolished  all  State  Con 
stitutions,  and  in  1835  created  a  dictator, 
Texas  in  1836  seceded  from  the  Mexican 
Union  and  established  itself  as  an  independ 
ent  republic.  In  the  election  for  President 
of  the  Republic  which  followed,  an  almost 
unanimous  vote  was  cast  for  annexation  to  the 
United  States.  The  application  was  made  by 
the  Minister  of  Texas  at  Washington  in  1837, 
but  failed  to  receive  favorable  action  in  Con 
gress.  In  1843-44,  however,  the  pressure  for 
the  admission  of  Texas  became  very  great, 
especially  in  the  South,  where  land  warrants 
for  immense  tracts  of  land  in  Texas  had  been 
sold  at  low  prices,  and  where  the  desire  for 
additional  slave  area  rendered  the  proposition 
an  extremely  popular  one.  A  new  treaty  of 
annexation  was  made  in  1844?  but  again  re 
jected  in  the  Senate. 

The  question  became  one  of  party  politics « 
in  the  United  States,  and  entered  largely 
into  the  presidential  election  of  1844,  when 
President  Polk  was  elected  upon  a  pledge 
in  favor  of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  But 
before  he  was  inaugurated  Congress  had, 
12  167 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

in  January,  1845,  passed  an  act  giving  its 
"consent  that  the  territory  properly  in 
cluded  within  the  Republic  of  Texas  may 
be  erected  into  a  new  State  to  be  called 
the  State  of  Texas,"  in  case  evidence  of  the 
formation  of  the  new  State  should  be  sent  to 
Congress  during  that  year.  President  Tyler 
hurried  a  messenger  off  to  Texas  the  day  pre 
ceding  the  inauguration  of  Polk,  and  the  mes 
senger  returned  in  due  time  with  the  consent 
of  the  Texan  Congress,  ratified  by  popular 
vote;  and  in  December,  1845,  a  joint  resolu 
tion  admitting  Texas  as  a  State  passed  the 
House  and  Senate. 

Thus  Texas  passed  from  the  position  of 
an  independent  republic  to  a  State  of  the 
Union  without  a  treaty  and  without  serving 
the  usual  probationary  period  as  a  Territory, 
and  actually  became  a  State  before  Iowa,  for 
which  the  enabling  act  had  become  a  law 
March  3d  of  that  year.  The  act  admitting 
Texas  also  gave  to  the  supporters  of  slavery 
an  opportunity  to  further  continue  their  bal 
ance  of  power  in  the  Senate,  by  providing 
that  "new  States  of  convenient  size  not  ex 
ceeding  four  in  number  in  addition  to  the 
168 


169 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

said  State  of  Texas  may  hereafter  by  the  con 
sent  of  said  State  be  formed  out  of  the  terri 
tory  thereof,  and  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  the  people 
of  each  State  may  desire."  The  area  of  Tex 
as  as  admitted  was  389,795  square  miles,  or 
nearly  one-half  as  large  as  the  Louisiana 
Purchase.  Subsequently  (1850)  the  United 
States  purchased  123,784  square  miles  of  the 
northwest  part  of  the  territory  claimed  by 
Texas,  paying  $10,000,000  for  it.  The  area 
so  purchased  now  forms  the  eastern  half  of 
the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  and  parts  of 
Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  Wyoming. 

WISCONSIN  ADMITTED  AS  A  STATE 

With  the  addition  at  the  South  of  Texas 
as  a  State  and  the  possibility  that  the  area 
might  soon  become  several  slave  States,  the 
North  made  haste  to  demand  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  States  in  that  section,  and  in 
1848  Wisconsin  was  admitted  as  a  State  with 
about  its  present  boundaries,  and  in  1849 
Minnesota  Territory  was  established  from  the 
area  north  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  had 
been  formerly  included  in  Iowa  Territory, 
170 


Texas 

and  also  including  the  area  north  and  west 
of  Lake  Superior  which  had  been  originally 
a  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  for 
merly  included  in  the  Territory  of  Wiscon 
sin.  This  inclusion  in  Minnesota  of  the  area 
north  and  west  of  Lake  Superior  was  not 
in  exact  compliance  with  the  act  creating  the 
Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio,  which  pro 
vided  that  that  area  should  be  formed  into 
not  more  than  five  States.  As  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  had  been 
severally  formed  from  that  area,  the  inclu 
sion  of  remaining  Territory  as  a  part  of  a 
sixth  State  does  not  seem  to  have  literally 
complied  with  the  original  act.  The  area  in 
question  was  a  part  of  the  area  of  Wisconsin, 
and  statements  have  been  made  by  generally 
accepted  authorities  that  it  was  included  in 
the  State  of  Wisconsin,  as  at  first  formed 
and  afterward  taken  away  and  added  to 
Minnesota,  but  this  later  statement  does  not 
seem  to  be  justified  by  an  examination  of  the 
acts  by  which  the  boundaries  of  the  State  of 
Wisconsin  were  originally  fixed. 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


THE  OREGON  TERRITORY 

The  next  great  step  was  the  favorable  set 
tlement  of  the  claim  of  the  United  States  to 
the  Oregon  country  and  its  admission  as  a 
Territory  of  the  United  States.  The  Spanish 
and  British  had  both  claimed  it  by  right  of 
discovery  and  explorations  prior  to  the  War 
of  the  Revolution;  and  in  1792  a  Boston  trader, 
Captain  Robert  Gray,  entered  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia  River  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  claim  of  the  United  States.  After  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana  from  France,  it  was  at 
first  supposed  that  the  Oregon  area  was  in 
cluded  in  that  purchase.  In  1811  John  Jacob 
Astor  and  others  established  a  fur-trading  post 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  calling  it  As 
toria.  The  British,  however,  insisted  that  the 
territory  belonged  to  them  and  captured  As 
toria,  and  in  1818  a  treaty  of  joint  occupation 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
was  made.  As  has  already  been  stated,  the 
treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Spain, 
for  the  purchase  of  Florida,  defined  the  bound 
aries  of  the  Spanish  possessions  in  America, 
and  fixed  the  northern  boundary  of  her  claims 
172 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

at  the  42d  degree  of  latitude,  thus  disposing 
of  Spain's  claim  to  this  Oregon  Territory  and 
to  this  extent  strengthening  those  of  the 
United  States.  The  joint  occupancy  of  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  which  had 
been  agreed  upon  in  1818,  continued  until 
1846.  By  that  time  the  demand  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  became  so  urgent 
that  war  with  Great  Britain  for  its  possession 
seemed  imminent,  and  when  in  that  year  a 
proposition  was  made  by  the  British  Govern 
ment,  fixing  the  boundary  at  the  49th  parallel 
and  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  it  was  accepted  by 
the  United  States,  the  treaty  ratified,  and 
Great  Britain  withdrew,  leaving  the  United 
States  in  full  possession.  An  organic  act 
had  meantime  been  framed  and  accepted  by 
the  American  settlers  in  the  Oregon  coun 
try,  who  then  numbered  several  thousands, 
and  in  1848  the  Territory  of  Oregon  was 
formed  by  the  act  of  Congress.  The  area 
thus  added  to  the  Union  includes  the  present 
States  of  Oregon,  Washington,  Idaho,  and 
parts  of  Montana  and  Wyoming. 


174 


The  Mexican  War 


THE  MEXICAN  CESSION 

The  next  great  step  was  the  cession  to  the 
United  States  by  Mexico  of  the  area  west  of 
Texas  and  south  of  Oregon.  A  dispute 
arose  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
regarding  the  southern  boundary  line  of 
Texas  shortly  after  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
The  Mexican  Government  held  that  the 
southern  boundary  of  Texas  was  the  Nueces 
River,  and  the  United  States  claimed  that 
the  Rio  Grande  was  the  proper  boundary 
line,  and  proceeded  to  take  possession  of  the 
area  in  question.  This  resulted  in  war  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  in  which 
the  United  States  was  successful  in  every 
engagement.  During  that  war  the  United 
States  took  possession  of  the  Mexican  States 
of  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  ex 
tending  westward  from  Texas  to  the  Pacific, 
and  when  the  war  ended  with  the  complete 
success  of  the  United  States  forces,  an  agree 
ment  was  made  by  which  the  United  States 
retained  possession  of  all  this  territory,  upon 
payment  of  $15,000,000  to  Mexico,  and 
$3,250,000  of  claims  of  American  citizens 
against  Mexico.  By  this  was  added  the  ter- 
175 


170 


The  Mexican  War 

ritory  now  included  in  California,  Nevada, 
Utah,  most  of  Arizona  and  parts  of  New 
Mexico  and  Colorado,  and  the  hopes  of  the 
South  for  additional  slave  territory  were 
thus  renewed.  The  territory  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  which  was  claimed  as  being  included 
in  the  Mexican  cession,  was  also  claimed  by 
Texas  as  part  of  her  original  territory,  and 
this  claim  was  settled  in  1850  by  payment  of 
$10,000,000  by  the  United  States  to  the  State 
of  Texas  for  the  area  in  question,  which 
amounted  to  123,784  square  miles  and  now 
forms  parts  of  New  Mexico,  Oklahoma,  Kan 
sas,  Colorado,  and  Wyoming. 

By  the  steps  which  have  been  above  de 
scribed — the  Texas  annexation  in  1845,  the 
Oregon  settlement  in  1846,  and  the  Mexican 
cession  in  1848 — the  United  States  had  in  less 
than  three  years  become  possessed  of  the  en 
tire  territory  west  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
and  extending  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  had 
thus  increased  its  area  more  than  fifty  per 
cent.  At  that  time  no  part  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  west  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Mis 
souri,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  had  even  been 
divided  into  Territories, 
177 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

The  necessity  for  establishing  government 
in  this  great  western  area  soon  became  ap 
parent.  Thousands  were  flocking  to  Oregon 
and  tens  of  thousands  to  California,  where 
gold  had  been  discovered ;  the  Mormons  had 
established  themselves  in  Utah ;  there  was 
a  considerable  Mexican  population  in  New 
Mexico  and  California,  and  the  country  west 
of  the  Missouri  required  a  government  to  pro 
tect  those  who  were  endeavoring  to  reach  the 
Pacific  by  an  overland  route,  as  well  as  the 
pioneers  who  were  beginning  to  make  their 
homes  in  that  section. 


TENTH  PEEIOD 

KANSAS,    NEBRASKA,    AND    MISSOURI 

THE  years  from  1848  to  1854  were  there 
fore  full  t)f  activity  in  the  establishment  of 
new  political  divisions  west  of  the  Missouri 
River.  A  convention  was  held  in  California 
in  1849  and  a  State  Constitution  framed,  and 
in  1850  Congress  admitted  it  as  a  State,  with 
out  preliminary  apprenticeship  as  a  Territory. 
In  the  same  year  all  of  the  remainder  of.  the 
area  obtained  from  Mexico,  including  the  dis 
puted  area  for  which  a  quitclaim  had  been 
purchased  from  Texas,  was  formed  into  two 
great  Territories,  Utah  and  New  Mexico. 

The  "  Gadsden  Purchase  "  was  the  next 
addition  made  to  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  A  disagreement  having  arisen  with 
Mexico  regarding  the  boundary  line  south  of 
New  Mexico,  the  matter  was  settled  in  1853 
by  the  payment  of  $10,000,000  and  the  addi- 
179 


Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Missouri 

tion  to  New  Mexico  of  the  area  since  known 
as  the  Gadsden  Purchase.  The  area  thus 
added  was  36,211  square  miles  in  extent,  or 
about  equal  to  the  State  of  Indiana.  It  re 
ceived  the  name  "  Gadsden  Purchase "  be 
cause  the  purchase  was  negotiated  by  General 
James  Gadsden,  then  United  States  Minister 
to  Mexico. 

In  1854  that  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
west  of  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota  was 
divided  into  the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and 
Kansas.  A  small  section  of  the  area  pur 
chased  from  Texas  was  also  included  in  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  and  Nebraska  Territory 
included  what  is  now  North  and  South  Da 
kota  and  parts  of  Montana,  Wyoming,  and 
Colorado. 

MINNESOTA  AND  OREGON  ADMITTED  AS  STATES 

The  transformation  of  these  great  terri 
tories  into  smaller  divisions  soon  began.  In 
1858  Minnesota  Territory  was  reduced  to 
about  its  present  boundaries,  and  made  a 
State;  in  1859  Oregon  was  reduced  in  size 
and  made  a  State,  and  the  eastern  part  of  the 
territory  added  temporarily  to  Washington 
181 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Territory.  In  1861  the  western  part  of  Utah 
was  established  as  the  Territory  of  Nevada ; 
the  eastern  part  of  Utah,  the  western  part  of 
Kansas,  and  the  southwest  corner  of  Ne 
braska  were  established  as  the  Territory  of 
Colorado  ;  the  remainder  of  Kansas  Territory 
was  admitted  as  the  State  of  Kansas,  and  the 
northern  part  of  Nebraska  cut  off  and  es 
tablished  as  the  Territory  of  Dakota,  includ 
ing  with  it  that  part  of  the  former  territory 
of  Minnesota  which  had  not  been  included  in 
the  State  of  Minnesota. 

THE  QUESTION  OF  SLAVERY  IN  THE  NEW 
TERRITORIES 

Meantime  the  question  of  the  relation  of 
slavery  to  the  new  territory  was  a  subject  of 
much  bitter  discussion.  It  was  conceded  that 
Texas  was  to  be  a  slave  State,  and  the  act 
establishing  the  Territory  of  Oregon  excluded 
slavery  from  that  section ;  but  the  question  of 
whether  it  should  or  should  not  be  permitted 
in  the  great  area  ceded  by  Mexico  was  a 
burning  issue.  The  Missouri  Compromise, 
which  excluded  slavery  from  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  north  of  36°  30'  except 
182 


Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Missouri 

in  the  State  of  Missouri,  could  not  be  held  to 
apply  to  the  area  ceded  by  Mexico,  because 
it  was  not  a  part  of  the  United  States  when 
that  law  was  enacted.  The  laws  of  Mexico 
prohibited  slavery  and  of  course  had  ex 
tended  over  the  area  in  question  before  its 
cession  to  the  United  States,  but  did  not 
apply  after  that  cession.  California,  which 
had  been  rapidly  populated  by  people  from 
the  East  and  especially  the  North  after  the 
gold  discoveries  of  1848,  in  1849  adopted  a 
Constitution  prohibiting  slavery,  and  applied 
for  admission  as  a  State.  This  precipitated 
the  discussion  as  to  whether  the  area  ceded 
by  Mexico  should  become  free  or  slave  terri 
tory. 

After  much  discussion  another  "com 
promise  "  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Clay,  and  in 
1850  adopted.  It  provided  that  California 
might  be  admitted  with  the  prohibition  of 
slavery,  but  that  the  remainder  of  the 
Mexican  cession  should  be  divided  into  two 
territories,  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  without 
any  express  restriction  upon  slavery,  the 
purpose  being  to  at  least  defer  action  on  this 
question  and  probably  leave  it  to  the  people 
13  183 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

of  the  Territories  in  framing  their  constitu 
tions  for  admission  as  States.  This  proposi 
tion  was  adopted  and  the  Mexican  cession, 
except  California,  became  debatable  ground 
for  the  introduction  of  slavery. 

In  1854  the  confusion  over  the  slavery 
question  was  intensified  by  the  presenta 
tion  by  Mr.  Douglass,  of  Illinois,  of  a  bill 
organizing  that  part  of  the  Louisiana  Pur 
chase  between  the  37°  and  the  Canadian 
line  into  the  Territories  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  and  providing  that  all  laws  of 
the  United  States  should  be  extended  to 
these  Territories  "except  the  eighth  section 
of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  of 
Missouri  in  1820  (the  compromise  section), 
which  being  inconsistent  with  the  principles 
of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with  slavery 
in  the  States  and  Territories  is  hereby  declared 
inoperative  and  void." 

It  further  declared'it  the  purpose  of  the 
act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  or  out  of  any 
Territory,  but  to  "leave  the  people  thereof 
perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way."  It 
also  extended  into  the  Territories  the  fugitive 
184 


Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Missouri 

slave  law  which  permitted  the  recovery  in 
any  State  or  Territory  of  slaves  escaping  from 
other  States,  requiring  officers  and  citizens  to 
assist  in  their  recapture  and  return,  and  pro 
hibited  the  acceptance  of  the  testimony  of 
the  person  claimed  as  a  slave.  This  proposi 
tion,  known  as  "  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill," 
became  a  law.  It  virtually  annulled  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  by  which  slavery  was 
prohibited  north  of  36°  30',  and  left  to  the 
people  of  the  great  area  included  in  the  Terri 
tories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  the  right  of 
framing  Constitutions  with  or  without  slavery 
and  applying  to  Congress  for  admission  under 
them,  and  by  implication  at  least  extended  a 
like  privilege  to  any  other  area  which  had  not 
been  erected  into  a  State. 

This  act  was  followed  by  a  bitter  struggle 
for  the  control  of  Kansas.  People  from  the 
South  and  from  the  North  flocked  in  for 
the  purpose  of  controlling  the  Territory  and 
adopting  a  Constitution  with  slavery  or  with 
out  slavery,  and  the  contest  resulted  in  col 
lisions  between  the  two  parties,  the  establish 
ment  of  two  Territorial  governments,  blood 
shed,  actual  warfare  and  the  interference  of 
185 


Expansion  of  Our  Tern  jry 

United  States  troops.  A  State  Constitution 
prohibiting  slavery  was  finally  adopted  in 
1858  and  admission  asked  of  Congress.  The 
bill  for  the  admission  passed  the  House,  but 
was  rejected  by  the  Senate. 

In  1857  another  event  increased  the  privi 
leges  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  and  inten 
sified  public  feeling.  An  army  officer  who 
owned  a  slave,  Dred  Scott  by  name,  had 
taken  him  from  Missouri  into  Illinois  and 
thence  into  Minnesota  as  his  property,  and 
after  remaining  there  for  some  time  returned 
with  him  to  Missouri.  Scott,  on  returning  to 
Missouri,  endeavored  to  secure  his  liberty, 
claiming  that  his  residence  in  a  free  State 
had  destroyed  his  master's  rights  over  him. 
The  question  was  carried  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  which  decided 
that  Scott  was  not  a  citizen  and  could  there 
fore  have  no  standing  in  the  courts.  It  also 
held  that  slaves  were  mere  property  and 
that  Congress  had  no  right  to  exclude  this 
kind  of  property  from  the  Territories,  but 
must  grant  to  every  citizen  the  right  to 
carry  this  as  well  as  any  other  property 
into  the  Territories  of  the  United  States 
186 


;£>  Nebraska,  and  Missouri 

and  protect  him  and  his  property  against 
hostile  legislation  in  those  Territories  so 
long  as  they  remained  such,  or  until  they 
became  States. 

This  series  of  events,  and  especially  the 
last  mentioned,  extended  the  right  to  hold 
slaves  to  all  the  great  western  area  which 
had  not  already  become  States,  and  intensi 
fied  the  hostilities  between  the  opponents  and 
supporters  of  slavery. 

But  these  rights  to  carry  slaves  into  the 
Territories  and  hold  slaves  there  while  they 
remained  Territories  did  not  fasten  slavery 
upon  any  given  area  indefinitely,  because  the 
matter  had  to  be  determined  by  congressional 
action  when  the  area  should  be  admitted  as  a 
State  of  the  Union.  The  slave  States  had  lost 
the  balance  of  power  in  the  Senate  when 
California  was  admitted,  and  in  1852  they 
had  but  30  Senators  and  the  free  States  32 ; 
while  in  the  House  they  had  90  members  and 
the  free  States  144.  In  1858  the  State  of 
Minnesota  was  organized  from  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  and 
admitted,  and  in  1859  the  State  of  Oregon 
was  formed  from  the  western  portion  of 
187 


[7 


•  I  1 1*3  s£s  i'ii°«  - 

EribiaHiili 


188 


Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Missouri 

Oregon  Territory,  and  these  two  events  in 
creased  the  number  of  free  State  Senators  to 
36  against  30  from  the  slave  States.  Kansas 
was  also  knocking  loudly  for  admission  as  a 
free  State,  and  it  was  apparent  that  this  could 
not  be  long  delayed. 


189 


ELEVENTH  PEKIOD 

THE    CIVIL    WAR 

THE  events  above  described  and  the  radi 
cally  different  views  between  the  two  sections 
on  the  question  of  slavery  had  led  to  a  gradual 
development  and  open  advocacy  in  the  South 
of  a  sentiment  which  had  been  from  time  to 
time  expressed  during  nearly  all  of  the  history 
of  the  Union,  viz. :  that  the  Union  was  a 
"compact"  and  that  those  forming  it  sur 
rendered  only  a  portion  of  their  individual 
rights,  and  that  when  the  Federal  Government 
passed  the  limits  of  its  delegated  authority  it 
was  within  the  power  of  the  States  to  inter 
pose,  and  maintain  certain  rights  which  they 
had  reserved  to  themselves;  that  the  States 
were  one  party  to  the  compact  and  the 
Federal  Government  the  other,  and  that  each 
party  must  be  the  judge  of  infractions  of  the 
agreement  and  the  mode  of  redress. 

This  sentiment  had  been  expressed  by 
190 


The  Civil  War 

resolutions  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  as 
early  as  1798  and  by  that-  of  Virginia  in 
1799.  In  1814  a  convention  of  delegates 
from  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connec 
ticut,  and  parts  of  Vermont  and  New  Hamp 
shire  had  held  a  secret  convention  at  Hart 
ford  which  expressed  somewhat  similar  sen 
timents,  and  was  believed  to  have  for  its 
purpose  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  though 
this  was  strenuously  denied.  In  1832  South 
Carolina  had  gone  to  the  extent  of  declaring 
by  a  State  convention  the  tariff  acts  of  Con 
gress  null  and  void  in  that  State  and  pro 
posing  secession  if  the  Government  attempted 
to  enforce  the  objectionable  tariff  law  in  that 
State,  and  the  Legislature  a  few  months  later 
passed  acts  reassuming  powers  which  had  been 
abandoned  under  the  Constitution.  Further 
developments  were,  however,  averted  by  the 
prompt  action  of  President  Jackson  in  support 
of  the  tariff  law  and  by  subsequent  modifica 
tion  of  that  law  by  Congress. 

The  above  events  relative  to  the  slavery 

question  and  the  doctrine  of  the  rights  of  a 

State  or  States  to  terminate  the  "compact" 

or  dissolve  the  Union  have  been  stated  some- 

191 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

what  in  detail  because  of  their  bearing  upon 
the  great  events  of  1861-65,  by  which  an 
attempt  was  made  to  divide  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  whose  growth  from  an  area 
of  827,000  square  miles  and  thirteen  political 
divisions  to  over  8,000,000  square  miles  and 
nearly  forty  political  divisions  has  been  here 
traced. 

THE  WAR  FOR  THE  DISSOLUTION  OP  THE  UNION 

In  1861  came  the  war  of  secession,  the 
effort  to  divide  the  Union  and  to  establish  a 
new  government — The  Confederate  States  of 
America — from  the  territory  in  which  slavery 
existed.  All  of  the  slave-holding  States,  ex 
cept  those  on  the  northern  border  of  the  slave 
area — Delaware,.  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and 
Missouri — joined  in  the  terrible"  struggle, 
adopted  ordinances  of  secession,  raised  armies 
and  entered  upon  the  war  which  continued 
from  1861  to  1865.  The  States  which  joined 
in  the  movement  for  secession  and  declared 
themselves  separated  from  the  Union  were 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mis 
sissippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas  and  Texas. 
192 


c 


~--j  — ^'-..^ 
•          E  ••_< 

ol   ^ r    = 


-K,a>^ 


f?^       _r 

-^  S?             <i-.: 

^^^w 

w^^t 

C/5    ^.    ^ 

2/r"x 

4- 

)—  --  -  ~'>4-J 

•7?  ai  * 

—  ~U=_j 

>— 4 irn     s 

,41  ° 

Ml   S   S   \   \^^.    rV" 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

The  struggle  to  determine  whether  the 
nation  should  be  divided  continued  for  four 
long  years,  with  a  loss  on  both  sides  of  more 
than  600,000  lives  and  a  cost,  counting 
that  of  both  sides,  of  about  $5,000,000,000. 
The  plan  of  the  Union  forces  was  to  split 
open  the  Confederacy  by  taking  possession 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  this  was 
finally  accomplished  after  two  years  of  per 
sistent  struggle,  partly  by  forces  making 
their  way  down  the  river  from  the  north,  and 
partly  by  others  who  had  forced  their  way 
past  the  Confederate  batteries  at  the  mouth 
of  that  river  and  worked  their  way  north 
ward.  With  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Texas 
cut  off  at  the  west,  another  wedge  of  troops 
was  driven  through  the  center  toward  the 
southeast,  at  Chattanooga  (Tenn.),  Atlanta 
(Ga.),  thence  to  Savannah,  and  then  turning 
north  again  through  South  and  North  Caro 
lina.  While  this  was  in  progress  stubborn 
fighting  was  going  on  between  the  two  capi 
tals  located  comparatively  near  to  each  other 
-Richmond  and  Washington — battles  which 
for  persistence  and  bravery  on  both  sides 
were  not  surpassed  by  anything  that  the 
194 


The  Civil  War 

world  had  ever  seen ;  and  it  was  not  until 
April  9,  1865,  that  the  leader  of  the  Confed 
erate  forces  surrendered  and  the  war  closed. 

SLAVERY  TERMINATED 

Meantime,  slavery,  which  had  been  the 
cause  of  so  much  sectional  strife  for  many 
years,  ceased  to  exist  in  the  sections  in  rebel 
lion,  through  a  proclamation  issued  by  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy,  in  which  he  declared  the  act 
a  military  necessity ;  and  in  1865  it  was  rati 
fied  by  the  adoption  of  the  Thirteenth  Amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution,  prohibiting  slavery 
within  the  United  States,  in  nearly  the  same 
words  used  in  1787  in  prohibiting  it  in  the 
Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio. 

[Slavery  had  originated  in  the  colonies 
only  twelve  years  after  the  settlement  at 
Jamestown  through  the  purchase  in  the  Vir 
ginia  colony  of  a  cargo  of  negroes  from 
Africa  brought  by  a  Dutch  vessel.  At  that 
time  slavery  was  not  uncommon  in  many 
parts  of  the  world.  It  extended  over  all  the 
colonies,  but  was  not  especially  popular  in 
the  North,  because  the  negroes  from  Africa 
195 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

could  not  thrive  in  that  rigorous  climate  and 
their  labor  was  not  so  much  required  in  that 
section  of  limited  agricultural  areas ;  while  in 
the  South,  with  its  milder  climate  and  chief 
dependence  on  agriculture,  it  became  popular. 
Massachusetts  abolished  slavery  in  1780, 
while  acts  of  gradual  emancipation  were 
passed  by  Pennsylvania  in  1780;  New 
Hampshire,  1783;  Rhode  Island,  1784;  Con- 
necticut,  1784;  New  York,  1799;  and  New 
Jersey,  1804.  New  York  afterward  passed 
an  absolute  emancipation  act  to  take  effect  in 
1827.] 

ACTIVITIES  DURING  THE  WAR  PERIOD 

The  war  period,  1861-65,  was  one  of 
great  activity  at  the  North.  It  was  necessary 
to  develop  the  producing  area  to  furnish  sup 
plies  for  the  enormous  army,  and  railway 
construction  was  also  rapidly  opening  new 
areas  in  the  West.  The  discovery  of  gold  in 
the  Pikes  Peak  Rocky  Mountain  region  was 
drawing  large  numbers  of  people  across  the 
plains  which  had  formerly  had  little  popula 
tion  and  required  little  in  the  way  of  govern 
ment.  The  project  of  a  railway  to  the  Pa- 
196 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

cific,  which  had  been  discussed  for  a  decade, 
took  definite  form  in  the  passage  by  Congress 
in  1862  of  an  act  granting  five  sections  of 
land  and  $16,000  in  bonds  per  mile  for  a 
transcontinental  road  from  the  Missouri  River 
to  the  Pacific,  and  in  some  difficult  sections 
the  amount  of  bonds  per  mile  was  much 
higher. 

MANY  NEW  TERRITORIES  FORMED 

These  conditions  suggested  that  a  more 
satisfactory  form  of  government  should  be 
furnished  for  the  territory  through  which 
these  roads  were  to  be  built,  and  into  which 
many  thousands  were  hastening,  attracted  by 
the  gold  discoveries.  Accordingly,  in  1861, 
as  outlined  elsewhere,  the  great  Territory  of 
Utah,  which  included  about  one-third  of  the 
Mexican  cession,  was  divided  into  three  sec 
tions,  the  western  part  called  the  Territory  of 
Nevada,  and  the  central  part  retaining  the 
name  of  the  Territory  of  Utah.  To  the  east 
ern  section  was  added  about  an  equal  amount 
of  territory  from  the  western  area  of  the 
Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  the 
political  division  so  formed  was  called  the 
198 


The  Civil  War 

Territory  of  Colorado.  That  Territory  thus 
included  as  its  western  area  land  which  had 
been  acquired  as  a  part  of  the  Mexican  ces 
sion,  in  the  center  a  part  of  the  land  pur 
chased  by  the  United  States  from  Texas  in 
1850,  and  in  the  east  a  part  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase. 

The  great  Territory  of  Nebraska,  which 
had  stretched  from  Kansas  at  the  south  to 
Canada  at  the  north,  and  from  the  Missouri 
River  on  the  east  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  on 
the  west,  was  also  divided  in  1861,  all  of  the 
area  nort'h  of  its  present  boundary  being 
erected  as  the  Territory  of  Dakota,  with  which 
was  included  that  western  part  of  the  former 
Territory  of  Minnesota  which  had  not  been 
included  in  the  State  of  Minnesota  when  it 
was  formed  in  1858.  Nebraska  remained  a 
Territory  and  retained  its  western  area, 
which  subsequently  became  a  part  of  Wyo 
ming. 

HOW  WEST  VIRGINIA   WAS    CREATED  A  STATE 

One  step  in  State-making  which  occurred 
in  the  early  part  of  the  war  period  was  unique 
in  character.     It  was  the  admission  of  the 
14  199 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

western  counties  of  Virginia  as  a  separate 
State.  The  people  of  that  part  of  the  State 
were  Unionists  and  had  refused  to  agree  to 
the  ordinance  of  secession  which  Virginia 
had  adopted.  They  desired  to  form  a  new 
State  and  remain  in  the  Union,  but  the  Con 
stitution  provides  that  "  no  new  State  shall 
be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  any  other  State  without  the  consent  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  and  of  Congress." 
In  order  to  meet  this  requirement  a  conven 
tion  was  held  at  Wheeling,  Va.,  the  Virginia 
Ordinance  of  Secession  declared  void,  the 
State  offices  declared  vacant,  and  a  Legislature 
elected.  An  election  for  Governor  was  held, 
and  Senators  chosen  and  sent  to  Washington, 
and  they  were  admitted  to  the  Senate  as  rep 
resenting  the  State  of  Virginia,  whose  Senators 
had  previously  withdrawn  from  the  Senate. 
An  ordinance  was  passed  by  the  new  Legisla 
ture  for  the  establishment  of  the  State  of 
"  Kanawha,"  and  it  was  approved  by  popular 
vote.  A  new  convention,  however,  which 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  proposed  State, 
submitted  the  name  of  "  West  Virginia,"  and 
the  Constitution  with  this  name  was  ratified 
200 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

by  popular  vote.  The  Legislature,  chosen 
in  fact  from  the  forty  counties  of  Virginia 
which  had  refused  to  secede,  but  assuming  to 
represent  the  whole  State,  gave  its  consent  to 
the  erection  of  the  forty  counties  into  the 
State  of  West  Virginia,  and  Congress  ad 
mitted  the  new  State  December  31,  1862. 
In  1866  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  trans 
ferred  two  additional  counties  to  West  Vir 
ginia. 

DIVIDING  THE  EXTREME  NORTHWEST 

The  Territory  of  Washington,  which  had 
been  formed  from  the  northern  and  eastern 
parts  of  Oregon,  had  by  this  time  become 
sufficiently  populated  to  require  a  division, 
and  the  great  Territory  of  Dakota  also  re 
quired  a  division.  In  1863  the  eastern  part 
of  Washington  and  the  western  part  of  Da 
kota  with  the  western  section  of  Nebraska 
were  formed  into  the  Territory  of  Idaho.  In 
the  same  year  the  great  Territory  of  New 
Mexico  was  divided  and  the  western  part  es 
tablished  as  the  Territory  of  Arizona.  This 
Territory  included  in  its  southern  section 
most  of  the  "  Gadsden  Purchase."  v  The  re- 
202 


The  Civil  War 

mainder  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico  re 
tained  its  former  name,  and  both  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico  remained  Territories  more  than 
half  a  century  after  the  organization  of  the 
Territory  of  New  Mexico,  and  more  than 
forty  years  after  its  division  into  these  two 
Territories. 

STATE  OF  NEVADA 

Nevada  was  the  next  State  admitted  after 
West  Virginia.  Indeed  only  two  States  were 
admitted  during  the  war  period,  although 
many  new  Territories  were  formed,  chiefly 
because  of  the  rapid  development  due  to  gold 
and  silver  discoveries,  railroad  building,  and 
the  westward  movement  of  population.  Ne 
vada  was  admitted  as  a  State  in  1864.  The 
act  creating  the  Territory  of  Nevada,  passed 
in  1861,  had  included  a  part  of  California  in 
its  limits,  but  the  consent  of  that  State  was 
refused,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  eastern 
line  of  Nevada  was  extended  eastward  to  the 
115th  meridian  by  the  act  which  admitted  it 
as  a  S^ate ;  and  two  years  later  the  eastern 
boundary  was  again  removed  eastward  to  the 
114th  meridian,  where  it  has  since  remained. 
203. 


TWELFTH  PEEIOD 

ALASKA,    KECONSTRUCTION,    AND    LATEK    STATES 

IN  1867  came  another  addition  to  the  area 
of  the  United  States,  the  purchase  of  Alaska. 
It  had  been  claimed  by  Russia  by  right  of 
discovery  in  1741,  by  exploration,  and  by  a 
settlement  begun  in  1784,  the  year  after  the 
peace  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
successful  colonies.  A  Russian  company  was 
given  charge  of  the  fur  business  which  rap. 
idly  grew  up  there,  a  naval  station  was  estab 
lished,  a  shipyard  constructed,  foundries  and 
machine  shops  put  into  operation,  and  experi 
ments  made  in  the  manufacture  of  bricks, 
woodenware,  and  implements  for  use  in  agri 
culture  and  mining.  Commercial  operations 
were  opened  later  with  the  Mexicans  in  Cali 
fornia  and  along  the  Mexican  coast,  and  upon 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  in  1848, 
large  stocks  of  goods  from  the  warehouses  at 
204 


Reconstruction 

Sitka  were  sold  to  the  people  of  San  Fran 
cisco  and  an  active  trade  established.  By 
this  time  the  people  of  California  and  Ore 
gon  became  acquainted  with  the  fisheries 
and  mineral  products  of  Alaska  and  began 
to  urge  its  purchase.  The  Russian  Govern 
ment  was  not  averse  to  disposing  of  the 
Territory,  so  distant  from  its  seat  of  govern 
ment,  and  in  1867  it  was  purchased  by  Sec 
retary  of  State  Seward,  for  $7,200^000, 

The  government  of  Alaska  is  adminis 
tered  by  a  governor  and  other  officers  ap 
pointed  by  the  President.  Its  fur  seals  were 
for  many  years  of  great  value,  and  the  salmon 
fisheries  are  now  the  most  valuable  of  the 
world,  and  its  mines  yield  several  million 
dollars'  worth  of  gold  annually.  It  has  no 
legislature  and  no  delegate  in  Congress. 

THE  SECEDING  STATES  READMITTED 

The  question  as  to  how  the  Southern 
States  should  be  restored  to  their  standing  in 
the  Union  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  a  new 
and  difficult  one.  The  Constitution  made  no 
provision  for  such  condition,  and  there  were 
no  precedents.  President  Lincoln  issued  an 
205 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

amnesty  proclamation  in  1863  offering  full 
pardon  and  restoration  of  all  property  rights, 
except  slaves,  to  all  (except  certain  leaders  in 
the  rebellion)  who  would  take  the  oath  to 
support,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  support  all  acts  of 
Congress  and  proclamations  of  the  President 
with  reference  to  slaves,  unless  repealed, 
modified,  or  held  void  by  Congress  or  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  that  in  every  State  in 
which  one-tenth  of  the  voters  of  1860  should 
take  such  oath,  a  republican  form  of  govern 
ment  would  be  recognized  by  the  President, 
the  question  of  .representation  in  Congress  to« 
be  determined  by  that  body.  This  plan  was 
favored  by  some  •  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
Another  plan  proposed  was  for  the  appoint 
ment  of  provisional  governors  and  the  enrol 
ment  of  those  willing  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  the  adoption  and  approval  of  a 
constitution,  and  admission  of  the  State  in 
the  same  manner  followed  in  regard  to  Terri 
tories. 

Congress  finally  adopted  a  measure  pro 
viding  that  no  State  should  be  represented  in 
either  House  unless  Congress  had  declared  it 
206 


Reconstruction 

entitled  to  representation.  An  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  (the  Fourteenth)  was 
then  proposed,  and  an  act  was  passed  de 
claring  that  any  State  ratifying  this  amend 
ment  should  be  entitled  to  representation. 
This  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  made  all  persons  born  or  naturalized 
in  the  United  States,  citizens  thereof,  ir 
respective  of  color,  prohibited  the  State 
from  making  laws  to  abridge  the  privileges 
or  immunities  of  any  citizen,  and  provided 
that  Representatives  in  Congress  should  be 
apportioned  to  the  States  according  to  their 
respective  population,  counting  the  whole 
number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excepting 
Indians  not  taxed.  [Formerly  Representa 
tives  were  apportioned  by  adding  to  the 
whole  number  of  free  persons  three-fifths  of 
all  others,  except  Indians  not  taxed.]  It  also 
provided  that  if  suffrage  should  be  denied  to 
any  male  inhabitants  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
the  basis  of  representation  should  be  propor 
tionately  reduced.  It  also  provided  that  the 
validity  of  the  public  debt  authorized  by  law 
and  for  payment  of  bounties  and  pensions 
should  not  be  questioned,  but  that  neither 
207 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  United  States  nor  the  States  should  pay 
any  debt  incurred  in  aid  of  the  rebellion  or 
any  claim  for  loss  by  emancipation,  and  de 
clared  all  such  debts  and  claims  void. 

Tennessee  accepted  this  proposition  in 
1866,  but  as  the  others  delayed,  Congress 
divided  the  remainder  of  the  States  into 
military  districts,  and  military  governors 
were  appointed.  They  were  to  protect  life 
and  property,  and  provide  for  and  supervise 
the  election  of  delegates  to  constitutional  con 
ventions.  These  conventions  were  to  frame 
constitutions  and  submit  them  to  a  popular 
vote,  and  if  ratified  they  should  be  forwarded 
to  Congress.  Should  they  prove  satisfactory, 
and  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  be  ratified  by 
the  Legislatures  of  the  States,  they  might  be 
admitted  after  the  amendment  had  been  rati 
fied  by  a  sufficient  number  of  States  to  make 
it  a  part  of  the  Constitution.  Under  this, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Florida,  and  Louisiana  were  ad 
mitted  in  1868,  and  Georgia  also  took  action, 
which  was,  however,  not  in  form  satisfactory  to 
Congress,  and  her  admission  was  not  made 
complete  until  1870.  The  other  States — Vir- 
208 


Later  States 

ginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas — delayed  action, 
and  meantime  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to 
the  Constitution  was  proposed  and  adopted, 
declaring  specifically  that  the  right  of  citizens 
to  vote  should  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by 
the  United  States  or  any  State  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude  ; 
and  Virginia,  Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Georgia 
were  required  to  ratify  this  amendment  before 
their  final  admission  in  1870,  when  the  Union 
was  again  complete. 

Thus,  all  of  the  eleven  seceding  States 
had  returned,  but  when  they  reassembled 
in  the  halls  of  Congress  they  found  that  the 
territory  which  formed  the  eleven  States  in 
1860  formed  twelve  States  in  1870,  West 
Virginia  having  been  constructed  from  a  part 
of  the  territory  formerly  within  the  State  of 
Virginia.  Only  three  other  States — Kansas, 
Nevada,  and  Nebraska — had  been  admitted 
during  that  period  :  Kansas  in  1861,  Nevada 
in  1864,  and  Nebraska  in  1867. 

COLORADO,  THE  "CENTENNIAL  STATE" 

During  the   twenty   years  following  the 
close  of  the  civil  war  and  the  reconstruction 
209 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

period,  only  one  State  was  admitted.  Col 
orado  applied  for  admission  in  1875  and  was 
admitted  in  1876,  the  year  in  which  the 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  celebrated,  and  Colorado 
thus  became  known  as  "  The  Centennial 
State."  It  was  admitted  with  substantially 
the  same  boundaries  under  which  it  existed 
as  a  Territory. 

WASHINGTON,  IDAHO,  WYOMING,  AND  THE 
DAKOTAS  MADE  STATES 

In  1889  came  a  period  of  activity  in  State- 
making.  The  Territory  of  Washington  was 
in  that  year  admitted  as  a  State,  and  the 
Territory  of  Dakota  was  divided  and  ad 
mitted  as  the  States  of  North  and  South  Da 
kota.  The  great  Territory  of  Idaho  had  been 
in  1864  subdivided,  and  the  northeastern 
part  established  as  the  Territory  of  Montana, 
and  in  1868  the  southeastern  part  was  es 
tablished  as  the  Territory  of  Wyoming ; 
Montana  was  admitted  as  a  State  in  1889 
and  Idaho  and  Wyoming  in  1890. 

Wyoming,  when  admitted,  had  the  unique 
distinction  of  being  composed  of  sections  of 
210 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

four  different  additions  to  the  national  terri 
tory  :  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  the  Texas  Pur 
chase,  the  Mexican  Cession,  and  the  Oregon 
Country.  Colorado,  as  already  indicated,  in 
cluded  parts  of  three  additions :  the  Louisi 
ana  Purchase,  the  Texas  Purchase,  and  the 
Mexican  Cession ;  but  Wyoming  included 
also  a  section  from  the  original  Oregon  Ter 
ritory.  About  two- thirds  of  the  area  at  the 
east  and  northeast  was  from  the  Louisiana 
Purchase,  the  middle  west  from  the  Oregon 
Territory,  the  southwest  from  the  Mexican 
Cession,  and  a  small  section  in  the  central 
south  from  the  area  claimed  by  Texas  and 
purchased  from  her  by  the  United  States  in 
1850. 

UTAH  AS  A  TERRITORY  AND  STATE 

Utah  was  admitted  in  1894  as  the  forty- 
fifth  State  of  the  Union.  It  was  originally 
a  Mormon  settlement,  founded  in  1847  by 
Mormons  from  Illinois  and  Missouri,  when 
the  section  where  they  settled  was  Mexican 
territory.  The  Mormons  sought  this  secluded 
spot  in  order  that  they  might  practise  undis 
turbed  their  religious  beliefs,'  including  that 
212 


Later  States 

of  polygamy,  or  plural  wives.  The  cession 
of  this  area  by  Mexico  in  1848  brought  them 
again  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States.  They,  however,  organized  an  inde 
pendent  government,  calling  it  "The  State 
of  Deseret,"  and  in  1850  attempted  to  obtain 
admission  as  a  State  of  the  Union.  In  that 
year  the  great  Territory  of  Utah  was  formed, 
and  Brigham  Young,  the  head  of  the  Mormon 
Church,  was  appointed  as  governor ;  but  the 
treatment  of  non-believers  in  their  form  of 
religion  resulted  in  his  removal.  In  1882 
Congress  passed  a  law  making  polygamy  a 
misdemeanor  and  denying  the  franchise  to 
polygamists.  Subsequently  the  Church  re 
nounced  polygamy,  and  in  1895  a  Constitu 
tion  was  framed  condemning  polygamy  and 
continuing  in  force  the  laws  prohibiting  it,  and 
under  this  Constitution  Utah  was  admitted  as 
a  State  in  1896. 

OKLAHOMA  AND  THE  INDIAN  TERRITORY 

The  last  Territory  organized  was  Okla 
homa.     It  was  formerly  a  part  of  a  tract  set 
aside  in  ^834  from  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
for  the  use  of  Indian  tribes  and  designated 
213 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

"The  Indian  Territory."  In  1866  the  Creeks 
and  Seminoles  ceded  some  5,000,000  acres  of 
land  to  the  United  States,  a 'part  at  fifteen 
and  a  part  at  thirty  cents  per  acre,  to  be  used 
exclusively  for  civilized  Indians  and  freed- 
men,  but  large  tracts  remained  unoccupied. 
In  1879  schemes  for  its  occupancy  by  white 
men  were  developed,  and  some  of  the  lands 
were  occupied  without  authority  and  the 
occupants  ejected  by  order  of  the  President. 
Later  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles  expressed  a 
willingness  to  make  a  complete  sale  of  the 
lands  for  the  occupancy  of  the  wrhites,  and 
these  lands  were  bought  by  the  Government 
for  $4,193,000  and  opened  to  settlement, 
and  the  area  established  as  the  Territory 
of  Oklahoma  in  1890.  Subsequently  other 
lands  were  purchased  from  the  Indians  and 
added,  and  the  area  is  now  39,030  square 
miles,  or  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  State  of 
Kentucky. 

The  remainder  of  the  Indian  Territory 
still  exists  as  an  unorganized  Territory,  being 
without  the  form  of  government  prescribed 
by  Congress  for  Territories.  In  some  parts 
the  inhabitants  are  governed  by  the  tribal 
214 


Later  States 

chiefs,  in  others  by  laws  enacted  by  legisla 
tures,  and  in  part  under  Federal  supervision 
by  officers  of  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs. 
The  present  area  of  the  Indian  Territory  is 
31,400  square  miles,  or  nearly  equal  to  that 
of  the  State  of  Maine. 


is  215 


THIRTEENTH  PERIOD 

HAWAII,    PORTO    RICO,    AND   THE   PHILIPPINES 

THE  latest  developments  in  the  addition 
of  area  to  the  United  States  and  the  estab 
lishment  of  governments  were  the  annexa 
tion  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  on  the  applica 
tion  of  the  people  of  those  islands,  and  of 
Porto  Rico,  Guam,  and  the  Philippine  Islands 
as  a  result  of  the  war  with  Spain. 

ANNEXATION  OP  THE  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

Negotiations  for  the  annexation  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  began  as  early  as  1854, 
under  President  Pierce,  and  would  probably 
have  been  completed  but  for  the  death  of 
the  King  of  those  islands  after  the  annexa 
tion  treaty  had  been  drawn  and  forwarded  to 
"Washington.  In  1893  a  revolution  occurred 
in  the  islands  and  a  provisional  government 
was  formed,  and  a  commission  sent  to  Wash 
ington  to  negotiate  for  the  annexation  of  the 
216 


Hawaii 

* 

islands  to  the  United  States.  A  treaty  of 
annexation  was  agreed  upon  by  President 
Harrison,  but  had  not  been  acted  upon  by 
the  Senate  at  the  close  of  his  term,  and 
was  withckrawn  by  his  successor,  President 
Cleveland.  At  the  close  of  President  Cleve 
land's  term  and  the  inauguration  of  President 
McKinley,  the  Hawaiian  commissioners  again 
proposed  annexation  and  a  treaty  for  that 
purpose  was  agreed  upon  and  sent  to  the 
Senate ;  but  action  on  the  treaty  being 
delayed,  a  joint  resolution  passed  the  House 
and  Senate  in  1898,  annexing  the  Islands 
as  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  In  1900  an  act  was  passed  ex 
tending  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States  over  the  islands  and  creating 
them  a  Territory .  of  the  United  States, 
with  a  Governor  appointed  by  the  Presi 
dent,  and  a  Legislature  elected  by  the 
qualified  voters.  The  islands  are  by  law  a 
customs  district  of  the  United  States,  and 
all  articles  pass  between  them  and  the  United 
States  without  any  tariff  restrictions.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  trdde  between  the  islands 
and  the  United  States  had  been  free  from 
217 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

tariff  restrictions  under  a  reciprocity  treaty 
agreed  upon  in  1876,  but  the  annexation  of 
the  islands  and  the  removal  of  all  tariff 
restrictions  was  followed  by  a  marked  in 
crease  in  the  commerce  between  the  two 
sections  and  in  the  prosperity  of  the  islands 
themselves. 

PORTO  RICO,  GUAM,  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  annexation  of  Porto  Rico  in  the  West 
Indies  and  Guam  and  the  Philippine  Islands 
in  the  Pacific  were  the  result  of  the  war  with 
Spain,  begun  by  the  United  States  in  1898  to 
compel  that  Government  to  terminate  her 
oppression  of  the  people  of  Cuba.  All  of 
these  islands  were  occupied  by  the  American 
forces  during  that  war,  and  on  its  termination 
they  were  all  ceded  by  Spain  to  the  United 
States,  the  latter  paying  to  Spain  the  sum 
of  $20,000,000.  While  the  treaty  did  not 
specify  the  purpose  of  this  payment,  it  was 
understood  that  Porto  Rico  and  Guam  were 
retained  by  the  United  States,  under  the  rules 
of  war,  as  a  partial  compensation  for  her  ex 
penditures,  and  that  the  payment  of  $20,000,- 
000  was  with  reference  to  the  Philippines. 
218 


Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines 

The  government  of  Porto  Rico  is  ad 
ministered  by  a  Governor  appointed  by 
the  President  with  the  assent  of  the  Sen 
ate,  and  a  Legislature  of  which  the  pop 
ular  branch  is  elected  by  the  people,  the 
upper  branch  being  appointed  by  the  Presi 
dent.  The  government  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  is  conducted  by  a  commission  ap 
pointed  by  the  President,  a  part  of  the 
number  being  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  a  part  natives  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 
Porto  Rico  is  a  customs  district  of  the  United 
States,  and  all  merchandise  passing  between 
that  island  and  the  United  States  is  free  of 
duty,  and  this  condition  has  resulted  in  a 
great  increase  in  this  commerce  in  both  direc 
tions.  The  tariff  duties  on  articles  from  the 
Philippine  Islands  entering  the  United  States 
have  been  reduced  in  part,  and  it  is  probable 
that  they  will  be  still  further  reduced,  and 
perhaps  entirely  removed,  as  is  now  the  case 
with  reference  to  the  products  of  Porto  Rico 
and  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  The  treaty  with 
Spain  provides  that  the  products  of  that 
country  entering  the  Philippine  Islands  shall 
be  given  the  same  rates  of  duty  as  those  of 
219 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  United  States  for  ten  years  from  the  date 
of  the  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the  treaty, 
or  until  1909.  The  occupation  of  all  these 
islands,  obtained  from  Spain  %as  a  result  of  the 
war  occurred  in  the  year  1898. 

OUR  SAMOAN  ISLAND 

The  ^Island  of  Tutuila  in  the  Samoan 
group  passed  under  the  control  of  the  United 
States  in  1899.  The  United  States,  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  had  exercised  a  joint 
protectorate  over  the  Samoan  Islands  since 
1889,  but  in  1899  this  was  terminated, 
Great  Britain  exchanging  her  claims  for 
certain  other  islands  formerly  held  by  Ger 
many,  and  the  latter  taking  control  of  the 
entire  Samoan  group,  except  Tutuila,  whose 
people  had  formerly  expressed  a  desire  for 
control  by  the  United  States.  Tutuila  and 
certain  small  islands  adjacent  to  it  were  as 
signed  to  the  United  States.  The  area  of  the 
island  is  but  about  fifty -four  square  miles,  but 
its  harbor  is  the  best  in  the  South  Pacific, 
while  that  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  the  best 
in  the  North  Pacific.  Tutuila  and  Guam  are 
respectively  governed  by  officers  of  the  navy 
220 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

designated  for  that  service.  The  population 
of  Tutuila  is  about  4,000,  that  of  Guam  about 
9,000.  The  population  of  Porto  Eico  is  about 
1,000,000,  that  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
about  8,000,000. 

THE  HOME  OF  THE  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

The  District  of  Columbia,  the  seat  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  was  created 
as  the  result  of  legislation  by  the  first  Con 
gress  under  the  Constitution.  Congress  had 
led  a  wandering  life  during  the  period  from 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution. 

The  first  Congresses  met  in  Philadelphia, 
but  in  the  latter  part  of  1776,  a  few 
months  after  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  there  was  reason  to  believe  that 
Philadelphia  might  be  attacked  by  Brit 
ish  troops,  and  Congress  in  December  re 
moved  to  Baltimore.  It  held  one  session 
there,  returning  to  Philadelphia  in  the  follow 
ing  March.  By  September  of  that  year  Phil 
adelphia  was  again  in  danger,  and  Congress 
moved  to  Lancaster,  Pa.,  where  it  remained 
but  three  days ;  and  deeming  York,  on  the 
222 


The  Seat  of  Government 

western  side  of  the  Susquehanna,  a  safer  lo 
cation,  removed  to  that  place  and  remained 
there  during  that  terrible  winter  which  Wash 
ington  spent  at  Valley  Forge.  In  the  follow 
ing  May  came  the  news  of  the  alliance  with 
France  and  the  evacuation  of  Philadelphia  by 
the  British,  and  the  Congress  soon  returned 
to  Philadelphia,  where  it  remained  until  1783. 
In  that  year  a  little  body  of  unpaid  troops  of 
the  American  army  drew  up  in  front  of 
Independence  Hall  and  demanded  their  pay. 
Congress  called  upon  the  city  authorities  for 
protection,  but  not  receiving  what  it  deemed 
proper  attention,  removed  to  Princeton,  N.  J. 
During  its  session  there  it  decided  that 
there  should  be  two  meeting  places  for  Con 
gress,  one  on  the  Potomac  and  one  on  the 
Delaware  River,  and  that  until  suitable  places 
should  be  established  Congress  would  meet 
alternately  at  Annapolis  and  Trenton.  One 
session  was  held  at  Annapolis,  beginning  in 
November,  1783,  and  another  at  Trenton,  in 
November,  1784 ;  after  which  New  York  was 
determined  upon  as  the  place  for  meeting, 
and  Congress  met  in  that  city  in  1785.  Its 
sessions  were  held  there  until  after  the  adop- 
223 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

tion  of  the  Constitution  and  the  inauguration 
of  President  Washington. 

The  question  of  a  permanent  seat  of  gov 
ernment  came  up  soon  after  the  inauguration 
of  the  first  President.  It  was  discussed 
with  considerable  sectional  feeling,  and  was 
finally  yielded  to  the  South  in  exchange 
for  support  for  Hamilton's  proposition  that 
the  Government  should  assume  the  debts 
incurred  by  the  various  States  during  the 
Eevolutionary  War.  The  measure  adopted 
provided  for  the  location  of  the  permanent 
seat  of  government  on  the  Potomac,  to  be 
occupied  in  November,  1800,  and  Congress 
removed  to  Philadelphia  in  1790  and  re 
mained  there  until  1800,  when  it  removed 
to  Washington,  the  permanent  seat  of  gov 
ernment,  on  the  Potomac.  An  area  10  miles 
square,  or  100  square  miles,  was  meantime 
determined  upon,  lying  on  both  sides  of  the 
Potomac,  of  which  64  square  miles  lay  within 
the  State  of  Maryland  and  36  square  miles  in 
Virginia.  Each  of  the  States  ceded  the  area 
asked  for  this  purpose.  The  District  was 
originally  designated  as  "The  Federal  Dis 
trict,"  and  the  city  was  designated  as  "  The 
224 


The  District  of  Columbia 

Federal  City,"  but  the  commissioners  ap 
pointed  in  1791  to  determine  its  boundaries 
gave  it  the  name  of  "  The  Territory  of  Colum 
bia,"  and  the  name  of  the  city,  Washington, 
thus  dividing  honors  between  Columbus  and 
Washington.  Later  the  Territory  became 
known  as  "  The  District  of  Columbia."  The 
area  was  ceded  by  Maryland  and  Virginia  on 
the  condition  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  should  forever  exercise  jurisdiction 
over  it. 

In  1846,  as  no  public  buildings  had  been 
erected  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac, 
the  area  ceded  by  Virginia  was  retroceded  to 
that  State,  leaving  the  area  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  64  square  miles.  The  district  was 
governed  directly  by  Congress  without  the 
right  of  representation  in  that  body  until 
1871,  when  it  was  given  a  territorial  form  of 
government  and  a  representative  in  Congress ; 
but  in  1874  this  \vas  abolished  and  the  gov 
ernment  placed  in  the  hands  of  three  com 
missioners,  to  be  appointed  by  the  President 
with  the  assent  of  the  Senate,  all  legislation 
for  the  collection  and  disbursement  of  taxes 
and  public  improvements  to  be  performed  by 
225 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Congress,  and  that  system  still  prevails,  The 
people  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  therefore, 
have  no  vote  and  no  representation  in  Con 
gress.  The  entire  District  is  included  within 
the  limits  of  the  city  of  Washington.  The 
city  stands  unitjue  among  the  capitals  of 
great  nations,  in  the  fact  that  it  was  created 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  a  seat  of  government. 


THE  CAUSES  OF  NATIONAL  GKOWTH 

Ix  the  events  which  have  been  sketched 
in  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  witnessed 
the  growth  of  the  nation  from  a  mere  Jiandr 
f ul  of  people  to  80,000,000,  and  from  thirteen 
scattered  colonies  to  more  than  fifty  political 
communities  combined  in  one  great  nation. 
The  growth  has  been  unparalleled  in  the  his 
tory  of  nations,  and  not  merely  the  growth  in 
area  and  population,  but  in  all  the  other  es 
sentials  of  a  great  nation.  In  the  production 
of  the  fields  and  forests  and  factories,  in  the 
development  of  systems  of  transportation  and 
communication,  in  the  growth  of  commerce 
among  its  own  people  and  with  those  of  other 
226 


Growth  of  Population 


parts  of  the  world,  the  development  has  been 
marvelous  and  has  far  exceeded  anything  in 
the  previous  record  of  man,  and  also  sur 
passed  that  in  any  other  part  of  the  world 
during  the  same  period.  In  the  hundred 
years  from  1800  to  1900,  the  area  grew  from 
827,844  square  miles  to  3,622,923  square 
miles  and  the  population  from  5,308,483  to 
76,303,387.  In  other  words,  the  area  in  1900 
was  four  times  as  much  and  the  population 
fourteen  times  as  much  as  in  1800. 

GROWTH  OF  POPULATION 

During  that  time  the  population  of  the 
United  Kingdom  grew  from  16,000,000  to 
41,000,000,  or  a  little  more  than  trebled ;  that 
of  France  from  27,000,000  to  39,000,000,  an 
increase  of  less  than  fifty  per  cent;  that  of 
Germany  from  23,000,000  to  56,000,000; 
Kussia  from  35,000,000  to  130,000,000,  or 
four  times  its  population  in  1800.  The  popu 
lation  of  all  Europe  has  grown  from  175,- 
000,000  to  about  400,000,000  during  the  cen 
tury,  while  that  of  the  United  States,  with 
an  area  nearly  equal  to  that  of  all  Europe,  has 
grown  from  5,000,000  to  76,000,000.  The 
227 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

population  of  Europe  at  the  end  of  the  cen 
tury  was  less  than  three  times  that  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  century,  while  that  of  the 
United  States,  with  an  equal  area,  was  four 
teen  times  as  much  as  at  the  beginning  of 
that  period. 

GROWTH  OF  COMMERCE 

In  commerce,  both  among  our  own  people 
and  with  those  of  other  parts  of  the  world, 
our  own  growth  has  been  equally  marvelous, 
our  exports  of  domestic  products  having 
grown  from  32,000,000  in  1800  to  1,394,- 
000,000  in  1900,  while  those  of  France  were 
growing  from  70,000,000  to  793,000,000,  and 
those  of  the  United  Kingdom  from  200,000,- 
000  to  1,417,000,000.  Thus,  the  domestic 
exports  of  the  United  Kingdom  are  seven 
times  as  much  in  1900  as  they  were  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  those  of  France 
eleven  times  as  much,  and  those  of  the  United 
States  forty -three  times  as  much. 

GROWTH  OF  AREA 

This  wonderful  development  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States  has  been  chiefly  due  to 

228 


Liberal  Land  Policy 

(1)  the  great  additions  to  area ;  (2)  to  the 
fact  that  a  very  large  share  of  our  area  is  of 
extremely  productive  land ;  (3)  that  the  na 
tion  has  maintained  from  the  first  an  ex 
tremely  liberal  land  policy.  In  the  very 
beginning,  when  the  colonies  were  first  es 
tablished,  the  English  Government  assumed 
the  entire  ownership  of  the  land.  This  claim 
was  based  in  part  on  the  right  of  discovery 
and  exploration,  and  in  part  on  that  of  pur 
chase  from  the  occupants  of  the  land,  the 
Indians.  All  persons  were  required  to  ob 
tain  their  lands  from  the  Government,  and 
purchases  from  the  Indians  were  not  recog 
nized  or  permitted.  When  the  colonies  es 
tablished  themselves  as  an  independent  na 
tion  they  followed  the  same  rule.  As  has 
been  already  told,  those  States  which  had 
large  areas  of  unoccupied  land  in  the  West, 
ceded  them  to  the  Government.  In  those 
sections  of  that  area  which  were  occupied  by 
Indians,  the  lands  were  purchased  from  them 
by  the  Government,  even  though  they  had 
been  already  ceded  by  the  States.  The  sums 
paid  for  these  lands  were  in  the  earlier  years, 
of  course,  extremely  small,  but  they  served 
229 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  purpose  of  giving  the  Government  a  com 
plete  title  and  enabling  it  to  dispose  of  the 
lands  to  those  desiring  to  make  homes  upon 
them.  A  treaty  with  the  Kaskaskia  tribe  of 
Indians,  in  1803,  gave  to  the  United  States 
the  title  to  all  of  the  land  between  the  Illi 
nois,  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Wabash  Rivers  for  an  annuity  of  $1,000  to 
the  tribe,  $100  per  year  for  seven  years  to 
their  priest,  and  $300  for  the  construction 
of  a  church  ;  and  other  great  tracts  were  ob 
tained  for  equally  small  considerations.  In 
later  years,  however,  much  higher  prices  were 
paid  to  the  Indians,  the  sum  paid  to  the 
Choctaws  for  their  lands  in  Mississippi  being 
$50,000  and  an  annuity  of  $3,000. 

THE  LAND  SYSTEM 

During  the  first  few  years  the  Government 
sold  lands  in  large  tracts  to  companies  or  in 
dividuals,  among  these  sales  being  one  to  the 
Ohio  Company  of  nearly  a  million  acres,  and 
another  in  the  Ohio  country  to  John  Cleves 
Simmes  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  acres. 
It  soon  became  apparent,  however,  that  this 
policy  was  not  a  good  one  for  the  masses,  and 
230 


The  Land  System 

it  was  abandoned.  The  lands  were  surveyed 
in  townships  ten  miles  square,  and  these  sec 
tions  again  divided  into  quarter  sections  of 
160  acres  each.  The  lands  were  offered  at 
$2  per  acre,  one  quarter  of  the  amount  in 
cash,  and  the  balance  in  three  annual  pay 
ments.  This  resulted  in  very  large  sales, 
many  of  which  were  not  paid  in  full,  and  in 
1820  the  credit  system  was  abandoned  and  a 
cash  price  of  $1.25  per  acre  fixed.  The  pre 
emption  laws,  under  which  the  citizen  may 
occupy  160  acres  of  land  and  pay  therefor 
the  price  of  $1.25  per  acre,  was  based  upon 
this.  In  1862  the  " homestead"  law  was 
passed,  by  which  any  citizen  might  become 
the  owner  of  160  acres  of  Government  lands 
by  a  five  years'  residence  thereon,  the  con 
struction  of  buildings  and  cultivation  of  the 
land.  Another  method  by  which  the  titles 
to  land  could  be  had  was  by  planting  and 
maintaining  a  certain  proportion  of  it  in  for 
est  trees,  and  by  this  the  forest  area  in  the 
treeless  sections  of  the  West  was  materially 
increased.  The  arid  lands  of  the  West  were 
also  made  available  at  a  nominal  price  to 
persons  who  would  irrigate  them. 
i<5  231 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

Another  method  by  which  the  public 
lands  were  made  to  contribute  to  the  develop 
ment  of  the  country  was  by  utilizing  a  por 
tion  of  them  in  the  construction  of  transporta 
tion  systems.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century, 
small  grants  of  public  lands  were  made  to 
aid  in  the  establishment  of  wagon-roads,  and 
these  were  followed  by  larger  grants  in  aid 
of  canals ;  4,000,000  acres  being  granted 
for  this  purpose  alone.  About  the  middle  of 
the  century  began  the  policy  of  granting 
lands  in  large  quantities  in  aid  of  railroad 
construction.  The  first  grant  of  this  char 
acter  was  to  the  Illinois  Central  Road,  which 
was  given  each  alternate  section  on  either  side 
of  the  proposed  line  for  six  sections  in  width, 
and  this  road  thus  begun  now  connects  the 
Great  Lakes  with  the  Gulf.  Agitation  for 
the  construction  of  a  great  through  line  to 
the  Pacific  soon  began,  and  in  1862  a  large 
grant  of  land  was  made  in  the  interest  of  that 
project.  This  was  quickly  followed  by  grants 
to  other  roads :  the  Central  Pacific,  the  Kan 
sas  Pacific,  the  Southern  Pacific,  the  Northern 
Pacific,  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific,  and  others  not 
intended  to  become  transcontinental  lines. 
232 


Railroad  Land  Grants 

The  amount  of  land  so  granted  to  railroads 
aggregated  about  200,000,000  acres,  but  a  con 
siderable  share  of  it  was  not  given  to  the 
roads  because  of  their  non-compliance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  grants.  The  amount  of 
land  actually  patented  to  the  railroads  is 
about  100,000,000  acres.  These  grants  were 
made  on  both  sides  of  the  line,  each  alternate 
section  being  given ;  and  where  the  lands 
within  the  limit  had  been  already  occupied 
by  settlers,  the  roads  were  given  indemnity 
lands  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  line. 
The  Government  compensated  itself  for  this 
land  by  doubling  the  price  of  the  alternate 
sections  which  it  retained,  and  it  was  held 
that  this  worked  no  hardship  on  the  people 
because  the  actual  value  of  the  lands  was 
much  more  than  doubled  by  the  construction 
of  the  railroad,  which  would  carry  their 
products  to  market.  The  lands  granted  to 
the  railroads  were  sold  by  them  to  the  public 
usually  on  long  time  payments  and  were  soon 
occupied,  after  the  Government  land  near  to 
the  railroad  was  pre-empted  and  homesteaded. 
Up  to  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1902  the 
amount  of  the  public  lands  appropriated  by 
233 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

the  various  processes  was  764,000,000  acres, 
equivalent  to  about  4,500,000  farms  of  160 
acres  each.  Of  these  764,000,000  acres  which 
the  Government  has  disposed  of,  about  175,- 
000,000  acres  was  in  the  form  of  homesteads, 
given  at  a  merely  nominal  price  to  actual  set 
tlers,  225,000,000  acres  by  cash  sales,  of 
which  about  200,000,000  acres  was  sold  at 
$1.25  per  acre  to  pre-empters,  nearly  100,- 
000,000  in  railroad  lands,  about  75,000,000 
in  swamp  lands,  and  60,000,000  in  bounties 
for  military  service ;  a  large  area  amounting 
to  151,000,000  acres  has  been  set  aside, 
chiefly  as  forest  reserve,  and  there  still  re 
main  894,000,000  of  acres  unappropriated 
and  unreserved.  This,  of  course,  is  not  of  as 
great  value  as  that  which  has  been  already 
appropriated,  much  of  it  being  mountainous, 
other  parts  arid,  and  386,000,000  acres  in 
Alaska. 

RESULT  OF  A  LIBERAL  LAND  POLICY 

The  result  of  this  liberal  land  policy  has 
been  the  opening  up  of  the  interior,  the  es 
tablishment   of  homes,   the   construction  of 
railways,  and  the  development  of  systems  of 
234 


Development  of  Agriculture 

agriculture,  manufacturing,  and  transportation 
which  far  surpass  anything  accomplished 
meantime  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
The  railroad  is  a  production  entirely  of  the 
last  century,  and  two-fifths  of  the  railways 
built  in  the  world  in  that  time  are  in  the 
United  States.  With  the  fertility  of  the 
lands,  the  wealth  of  the  forests  and  mines, 
and  the  facility  of  transportation,  the  United 
States  has  become  the  world's  greatest  pro 
ducer  of  foodstuffs,  of  cotton,  of  iron,  of  coal, 
of  mineral  oil,  and  of  manufactures.  The 
ready  welcome  extended  to  people  of  other 
lands,  the  homes  offered  free  of  cost  to  actual 
citizens,  the  high  wages  and  general  activity 
and  employment,  coupled  with  freedom  from 
military  service  and  a  republican  form  of 
government,  have  attracted  people  from  all 
parts  of  the  world;  and  the  number  of  per 
sons  added  to  the  population  by  immigration 
alone  in  the  last  century  is  fully  20,000,000. 
The  total  population,  exclusive  of  the  In 
dians,  grew  from  143  persons  at  Jamestown 
in  1607  to  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  in 
1700,  5,000,000  in  1800,  and  76,000,000  in 
1900 ;  the  center  of  population  has  moved 
235 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

from  near  Baltimore  in  1800  to  central  In 
diana  in  1900,  and  the  center  of  agriculture  to 
southern  Illinois,  and  the  center  of  manufac 
turing  from  the  Atlantic  Coast  in  1800  to 
central  Ohio  in  1900.  The  total  value  of 
agricultural  productions  has  grown  to  nearly 
$4,000,000,000,  that  of  manufactures  to  over 
$8,000,000,000,  exclusive  of  duplications,  and 
the  foreign  commerce  to  over  $2,000,000,000, 
while  the  internal  commerce  of  the  United 
States  has  grown  to  $20,000,000,000,  or  as 
much  as  the  entire  international  commerce 
of  the  world. 

GROWTH  IN  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY 

The  growth  in  the  manufacturing  industry 
in  the  United  States  during  this  period  of 
development  has  been  very  great.  The  total 
value  of  manufactures  are  shown  by  the  cen 
sus  of  1850  at  one  billion  dollars,  that  of  1860 
a  little  less  than  two  billions,  1870  four 
billions,  1880  five  billions,  1890  nine  billions, 
and  1900  thirteen  billions.  Efforts  to  obtain 
statements  of  the  value  of  manufactures  were 
made  in  each  census  beginning  with  1810,  but 
with  unsatisfactory  results.  The  census  of 
236 


Development  of  Manufacturing 

1810  placed  the  value  of  manufactures  at 
$145,385,906,  but  an  analysis  and  estimate 
made  by  Hon.  Tench  Coxe,  who  was  ap 
pointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
consider  these  figures,  placed  the  total  value 
of  the  manufactures  of  that  year  at  $198,- 
614,471,  so  that  it  may  be  assumed  that  in 
round  terms  the  value  of  the  manufactures  of 
the  United  States  in  1810  was  about  $200,- 
000,000.  From  that  date  to  1850  the  census 
returns  were  so  incomplete  that  no  satisfac 
tory  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  manufactures 
can  be  made  for  that  period.  The  first  census 
whose  figures  the  census  authorities  of  1900 
deemed  proper  to  present  as  a  total  of  the 
manufactures  of  the  country  are  those  of 
1850,  and  they  are  given  in  the  above  table 
followed  by  those  of  1860,  1870,  1880,  1890, 
and  1900.  It  will  be  seen  from  these  figures 
that  the  gross  value  of  manufactures  had  only 
reached  $1,000,000,000  by  the  middle  of  the 
century,  and  that  they  had  reached  $13,000,- 
000,000  at  the  end  of  the  century ;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  increase  in  the  last  half 
of  the  century  was  twelve  times  as  great  as 
the  total  at  the  middle  of  the  century.  It 
237 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

is  probable  that  the  value  of  manufactures  in 
1800  was  about  $130,000,000,  and  that  those 
of  1900  are  therefore  about  one  hundred  times 
as  great  as  those  of  1800.  The  total  value  of 
manufactures  exported  in  1800  was  $2,500,- 
000,  and  in  1900,  $433,000,000. 

The  slow  growth  in  the  first  half  of  the 
century  is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  a  large 
share  of  the  manufacturing  was  still  per 
formed  in  the  household.  While  the  factory 
system  of  manufacture  began  to  take  the 
place  of  that  of  the  household  in  England  in 
the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
especially  as  related  to  textiles,  it  did  not  ob 
tain  a  foothold  in  the  United  States  until 
during  the  period  of  the  embargo  and  the 
War  of  1812  ;  and  it  was  not  until  about  1840 
that  it  became  general,  and,  as  late  as  the 
middle  of  the  century,  a  considerable  share 
of  the  manufacturing  was  still  carried  on  in 
the  family  or  in  the  small  shop  by  the  aid  of 
the  family  and  apprentices,  as  distinguished 
from  the  factory  with  paid  employees  and 
the  application  of  power.  Hence,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  census  of  1850  showed 
manufactures  amounting  to  but  one  billion 
238 


The  Manufacturing  Industry 

dollars'  value,  while  the  chief  cause  for  aston 
ishment  is  the  wonderful  growth  which  has 
occurred  since  that  time,  a  growth  from 
$1,000,000,000  in  1850  to  $13,000,000,000  in 
1900. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  the  figures  of  the 
total  value  of  manufactures  are  merely  an  ag 
gregation  of  the  values  reported  by  all  manu 
facturers;  and  as  the  products  reported  by 
one  manufacturer  often  become  the  materials 
for  use  by  others,  the  figures  of  the  grand 
total  are  to  that  extent  duplications.  For 
example,  the  leather  reported  as  a  manufac 
ture  by  the  tanner,  becomes  the  material  used 
by  the  manufacturer  of  boots  and  shoes,  and 
is  a  second  time  reported  by  him  in  stating 
the  value  of  the  manufactures  turned  out. 
The  yarn  produced  by  one  manufacturer  be 
comes  the  manufacturing  material  for  the 
maker  of  cloth,  and  the  cloth  becomes  the 
material  used  by  the  manufacturer  of  cloth 
ing;  the  value  of  the  yarn  being  thus  re 
ported  three  times  and  that  of  the  cloth  twice 
in  the  final  statement  of  the  grand  total  of 
manufactures  produced.  But  as  this  custom 
has  been  followed  in  each  census  it  does  not 
239 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

materially  affect  tlie  value  of  the  figures  for 
comparative  purposes  in  showing  the  growth 
of  the  manufacturing  industry.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  fact  that  the  values  of  manufactures 
have  greatly  fallen  since  the  earlier  dates 
considered  indicates  that  the  actual  increase 
in  quantity  produced  is  even  greater  than 
that  indicated  by  the  figures  which,  necessa 
rily,  deal  with  values  only. 

The  increase  in  production  of  manufac 
tures,  the  increase  in  production  of  raw 
material,  and  the  increase  of  transportation 
facilities,  suggest  that  probably  the  manu 
facturing  industries  have  extended  far  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  and  especially  to 
those  sections  where  the  raw  material  or  the 
coal  is  produced;  and  an  examination  of 
the  census  records  shows  that  this  is  true. 
We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  the  New  Eng 
land  and  Middle  States  as  the  chief  seat  of 
the  manufacturing  industries,  and  it  is  rather 
surprising  to  know  that  the  center  of  the 
manufacturing  industries  has  steadily  moved 
westward  until  it  is  now  located  in  the  State 
of  Ohio. 

It  is  equally  surprising  to  know  that  Ohio 
240 


Centers  of  Industries 


ranks  first  of  all  the  States  of  the  Union  in 
the  manufacture  of  carriages  and  wagons  and 
of  clay  products,  and  second  in  agricultural 


CENTER  OF  POPULATION  AT  DECENNIAL  YEARS  FROM  1790  TO  1900  AND  OF  AGRICULTURE 
eft  MANUFACTURE  FROM  1850 TO  1900. 
(From  U.S.  Census.) 

implements,  and  in  iron  and  steel  manufac 
tures.  Illinois  holds  first  rank  in  the  manu 
facture  of  agricultural  implements,  cars,  bi 
cycles  and  distilled  liquors ;  and,  second,  in 
men's  clothing,  furniture,  musical  instruments, 
and  soap  and  candles.  Wisconsin  ranks  first 
in  lumber  and  timber  production  ;  Minnesota 
first  in  flour  manufacturing ;  Missouri  first  in 
the  manufacture  of  tobacco  ;  Texas  first  in  the 
manufacture  of  cottonseed  oil-cake  ;  Colorado 
241 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 

first  in  lead,  and  California  first  in  explosives, 
wines,  and  preserved  fruits. 

OUR  AREA  COMPARED  WITH  THAT  OF  OTHER 
COUNTRIES 

One  other  cause  of  our  growth  in  produc 
tion  is  the  greatness,  the  physical  greatness, 
of  our  country.  We  scarcely  realize  how  big 
we  have  grown.  We  proudly  compare  the 
growth  of  our  manufacturing  or  exports  with 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom,  for  example ; 
but  do  not,  apparently,  stop  to  consider  that 
the  area  of  England  is  less  than  that  of  the 
State  of  Kansas,  and  that  of  the  entire 
United  Kingdom  less  than  that  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  combined.  When  we  compare 
our  own  conditions  with  those  of  France,  we 
forget  that  its  area  is  less  than  that  of  our 
two  Territories  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico 
combined.  We  look  with  complacency  upon 
the  figures  which  compare  our  growth  in 
manufactures,  commerce  and  population  with 
that  of  Germany,  but  overlook  the  fact  that 
all  of  the  German  Empire  is  smaller  than 
our  single  State  of  Texas.  The  area  of  the 
thirteen  colonies,  as  defined  by  the  Peace 
242 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   STATES 

IHE 

UXITED  STATES. 


States  whose  areas  havt  not  changed  t 3 

materially  since  their  organization 1 — J 

Territory  which  has  always  been  uniler 
the  same  jurisdirtion  as  at  present 
~  The  date  of  Admission  of  each  State 

f  the  Union  shown  thus:  1861 

w       40° 


Comparative   Areas 

Treaty  of  1783,  was  equal  to  that  of  the 
present  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Norway  and  Sweden,  whose  combined  popu 
lation  to-day  is  143,000,000.  The  area  added 
by  the  Louisiana  Purchase  is  greater  than 
the  present  area  of  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy, 
Austria,  Hungary,  and  all  of  the  Balkan 
States,  with  a  combined  population  of  125,- 
000,000.  The  area  added  by  the  Florida 
Purchase  is  more  than  that  of  the  present 
Denmark,  Netherlands,  Belgium,  and  Switz 
erland,  whose  population  to-day  is  18,000,000. 
The  combined  area  of  the  Texas,  Mexican, 
Oregon,  and  Alaska  additions  is  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  all  European  Russia,  whose  present 
population  is  106,000,000.  Thus,  our  pres 
ent  area,  including  Alaska,  may  be  said  to 
practically  equal  that  of  all  Europe,  whose 
population  is  in  round  terms  400,000,000  of 
people. 


243 


Appendix 


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250 


Appendix 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS  OP 
THE  UNITED  STATES.    1850  TO  1900 

(UNITED  STATES  CENSUS  FIGURES.) 


] 

rarms. 

YEARS. 

Number 
of 
farms. 

Persons 
engaged 
in  agri 
culture. 

Value  of 
farms  and 
farm 
property. 

Value  of 
products. 

1850  

1  449  073 

Number. 

Dollars. 
3,967,343  580 

Dollars. 

1860 

2  044  077 

7  980  493  060 

1870  

2,659,985 

5,922,471 

8,944,857,749 

1,958  030  927 

1880  

4  608  907 

7  713  875 

12  180  501  538 

2  212  540  927 

1890  

4,564,641 

8,565,926 

16,082,267,689 

2,460,107,454 

1900  

5  739,657 

10  438,219 

20,514  001  838 

3  764  177  70G 

Total  manufacturing  industries  of  the 

Wealth. 

United  States. 

Years. 

ber  of 
estab 
lish 
ments. 

Average 
number 
of  em 
ployees. 

Wages  and 
salaries 
paid. 

Value  of 
products. 

Total. 

Per 

capita. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars 

1850. 

123,025 

957,050 

236,755,464 

1,019,106,616 

7,135,780,000 

307.69 

1860. 

140,433 

1,311,246 

378,878,966 

1,885,861,676:16,159,616,000 

513.93 

1870. 

252,148 

2,053,996 

775,584,34.3 

4,232,325,  442  130,  068,518,000 

779.83 

1880. 

253,852 

2,732,595 

947,953,795 

5,369,579,191  i42,642,000,000 

850.20 

1890. 
1900.   . 

355,415 
612,734 

4,712,622 
5,719,137 

2,283,216,529 
2,735,430,848 

9,372,437,2a3 
13,039,279,566 

65,037,091,000 
94,300,000,000 

1,038.57 
1,235.86 

251 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


ADDITIONS  TO  THE  TERRITORY  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  FROM  1800  TO  1900 


TERRITORIAL  DIVISION. 

Year. 

Area  added. 

Purchase 
price. 

1803 

Square  miles. 
875  0°5 

Dollars. 
15  000  000 

Florida                .  .                       

1819 

70  107 

i  6  489  768 

1845 

389  795 

Oregou  Territory.                            .... 

1846 

288  689 

**Mexican  Cession  

1848 

523  802 

2  19  250  000 

^•Purchase  from  Texas         

1850 

1  3\ 

10  000  000 

1853 

36  211 

10  000  000 

Alaska                         .                     ...  . 

1867 

599  446 

7  200  000 

1897 

6  740 

Porto  Rico 

1898 

q  f(\n 

1898 

175 

Philippine  Islands 

1899 

1899 

73 

Additional  Philippines  

1901 

Total  



1  Includes  interest  payment. 

2  Of  which  83,250,000  was  in  payment  of  claims  of  American  citizens 
against  Mexico. 

3  Area  purchased  from  Texas,  amounting  to  123,784  square  miles,  is  not 
included  in  the  column  of  area  added,  because  it  became  a  part  of  the  area 
of  the  United  States  with  the  admission  of  Texas. 


INDEX 


Addition  of  territory  by  treaty 

of  1783,  77. 
Additions    of    territory,    dates, 

area,  price  paid,  252. 
Agriculture  and  manufactures  in 

United  States,  1850  to    1900, 

251. 
Alabama    Territory     organized, 

143 ;  admitted  as  State,  142. 
Alaska  Purchase,  204. 
Alleghanies,      early     settlement 

west  of,  42. 

America,  population  of,  when  dis 
covered,  estimate  of,  8. 
Area    of    the    original   thirteen 

States,  2. 
Area  of  United  States,   1800  to 

1903,  249. 
Area,  growth  of,  228  ;  comparison 

with  other  countries,  243. 
Arizona, Territory  organized,  202. 
Arkansas,   Territory    organized, 

147  ;  admission  as  State,  160. 

Balance  of  power  between  slave 
and  free  States,  150. 

Boundaries  of  Louisiana  Pur 
chase,  123. 

Boundaries  of  Union,  determined 
by  treaty  of  1783,  7(5. 

Boundaries  of  Union  in  1782,  74. 


Boundary  dispute  between  Michi 
gan  and  Ohio,  159. 

Brazil,  Portuguese  in,  17. 

Burr,  his  attempt  to  establish  a 
government  in  the  West,  128. 

California,  settlements  by  Span 
ish,  14  ;  admitted  as  State,  179. 

Carolinas,  history  of  settlement, 
87. 

Cession  of  Western  lands  to 
Union,  82. 

Civil  War,  the,  190. 

Colonies,  confederation  of,  73. 

Colonization,  early  attempts  by 
English,  20;  begun  by  Colum 
bus,  11. 

Colonizing  methods  of  English, 
French,  and  Spanish  compared, 
22. 

Commerce,  1800  to  1903,  249. 

Commerce,  growth  of,  228. 

Compromises  on  slavery  question 
152, 183,  196. 

Confederation  of  colonies,  73. 

Congress,  meeting-places  of,  222. 

Connecticut,  establishment  of 
colony,  35. 

Constitution,  adoption  of,  74-92. 

Coronado,  explorations  north  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  13. 


253 


Expansion  of  Our   Territory 


Cortez,  exploration  of  Mexico,  12. 
Court  of  France  and  division  of 

North  America,  78. 
Cuba,  captured  by  British  and 

exchanged  for  Florida,  65. 

Dakota,  Territory  organized,  199  ; 

divided  and  admitted,  210. 
Dare,  Eleanor,  story  of,  20. 
De  Ayllon  plants  Spanish  colony 

on  site  of  Jamestown,  14. 
Delaware,  Dutch  claims  in,  36. 
De  Soto,  wanderings  in  Missis 
sippi  Valley,  13. 

Discovery,  claims  by  reason  of,  23. 
District    of    Columbia,    history, 

222;  government,  225. 
District  of  Louisiana,  126. 
Division    of  Western    territory, 

Jefferson's  plan,  88. 
Dom  Pedro  and  Brazilian  Govern- 

ment,  17. 

"  Dred  Scott  case,"  186. 
Dutch  colonies  on  the  Hudson, 

29. 
Dutch,  their  claims  in  America, 

31 ;   their  claims  in  New  Jersey 

and  Delaware,  36. 
Dutch    territory,     captured    by 

English,  36. 

Eleanor  Dare,  story  of,  20. 

English  and  French,  a  war  for 
control  of  Mississippi  Valley, 
49. 

English  colonies,  how  they  dif 
fered  from  French  and  Spanish, 
22 ;  in  West  Indies  and  at  the 
North,  43;  relations  of,  prior 
to  1750,  48. 


English  colonization,  early  at 
tempts,  20. 

English,  explorations  in  America, 
19. 

Expansion  begun  by  Louisiana 
Purchase,  117. 

Explorations  of  French  and  Eng 
lish,  19-44. 

First  child  of  English  parentage 
born  in  Ametica,  20. 

First  European  settlement  in 
America,  1 1. 

First  Territorial  government  in 
common  territory,  91 . 

Florida,  exploration  of,  by  Ponce 
de  Leon,  12  ;  obtained  by  Brit 
ish  in  exchange  for  Cuba,  65  ; 
admission  as  State,  162 ;  pur 
chase  of,  144 

Formation  of  States  described, 
107. 

Fort  Duquesne,  battle  of,  53. 

France,  plans  for  division  of 
North  America,  78. 

Frankland,  Independent  State  of, 
86. 

French  and  English  claims  in 
Mississippi  Valley,  43. 

French  and  English,  war  for 
control  of  Mississippi  Valley, 
49. 

French  colonies,  how  they  dif 
fered  from  English  and  Span 
ish,  22. 

French  colonization  begun,  26. 

French  exploration,  routes  of , and 
claims  resulting,  27. 

French  explorations  in  America, 
18,44. 


254 


Index 


French  Government  and  treaty 
of  1783,  76. 

French  withdrawal  from  Conti 
nent  of  North  America,  55. 

Gadsden  purchase,  179. 

Georgia,  colonization  of,  39 ;  ces 
sion  of  western  lands,  108. 

Gold  discovery  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  196. 

Growth  of  area,  population,  com 
merce,  and  manufactures,  228. 

Hawaii,  annexation,  210 ;  made 
Territory,  217. 

Idaho,  Territory  organized,  202  ; 
admitted  as  State,  210. 

Illinois,  Territory  organized,  131 ; 
admitted  as  State,  141. 

Independence  and  union  of  colo 
nies,  57. 

Independent  State  of  Frankland, 
80. 

Indiana,Territory  organized,  114; 
Territory  divided,  132  ;  admit 
ted  as  State,  141. 

Indian  Territory,  214. 

Iowa,  admission  as  a  State,  162. 

"  Island  of  New  Orleans,"  its 
control  of  Mississippi  naviga 
tion,  118. 

Jamestown,  Spanish  as  first  set 
tlers,  14 ;  planting  of  colony, 
25 ;  on  site  formerly  occupied 
by  Spanish,  26. 

Jefferson's  plan  for  division  and 
government  of  Western  terri 
tory.  88. 

Joliet,  routes  of  exploration,  27. 


Kansas,  organized  aa  Territory, 
181 ;  admitted  as  State,  20<>. 

•'Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,"  185. 

Kentucky,  admission  to  Union, 
102 ;  solicited  to  organize  as  in 
dependent  republic,  104. 

Land  policy  of  the  United  States 
described,  229. 

London  Company,  organization 
of,  24. 

Louisiana,  territory  of,  126  ;  dis 
trict  of,  126;  admitted  aa 
State,  126;  Purchase,  117; 
causes  of,  118 ;  area  and  cost 
of,  122 ;  boundaries  defined,146. 

Maine,  as  a  part  of  Massachu 
setts,  150;  history  of,  150;  ad 
mission  as  a  State,  150. 

Manufactures  and  agriculture  in 
United  States,  1850  to  1900, 
251. 

Manufactures,  growth  of,  228. 

Marquette,  routes  of  exploration 
27. 

Maryland,  establishment  of 
colony,  35. 

Meeting-places  of  Congress,  222. 

Mexican  cession,  175. 

Mexico,  establishment  of  repub 
lic,  15,  165 ;  war  with,  175. 

Michigan  and  Ohio,  boundary 
dispute,  159. 

Michigan,  Territory  organized, 
127 ;  admission  as  State,  160 ;  its 
large  and  varying  area  as  a  Ter 
ritory,  161. 

Minnesota,  organized  as  Terri 
tory,  170;  admitted  as  State, 
181. 


255 


Expansion  of  Our  Territory 


Mississippi,  Territory  established, 

107  ;  admitted  as  State,  141. 
Mississippi  River,  its  control  the 

cause  of    Louisiana  Purchase, 

12-3. 
Mississippi  Valley,    French  and 

English  claims  to,  43 ;  struggle 

for  control  of,  49. 
Missouri,   admission  as  a  State, 

151. 

Missouri  Compromise,  196. 
Money  in   circulation  in  United 

States,  1800  to  1903,  249. 
Montana,     Territory    organized, 

210;  admitted  as  State,  210. 
Mormons  in  Utah,  212. 

National  growth,  causes  of,  226. 

Nebraska,  organized  as  Territory, 
181 ;  admitted  as  State,  209. 

Nevada,  Territory  organized,  198; 
admitted  as  State,  203. 

New  Amsterdam,  Dutch  colonies 
on  Hudson,  32. 

New  England,  colonies  estab 
lished,  34. 

New  Hampshire,  establishment 
of  colony,  35. 

New  Jersey,  Dutch  claims  in,  36. 

New  Mexico,  organized  as  Terri 
tory,  180. 

New  York,  capture  from  Dutch 
by  English,  32,  36. 

North  Carolina,  settlement  of,  37. 

North  Dakota,  admitted  as  State, 
210. 

Northwest  Territory,  organiza 
tion  of,  90 ;  non-compliance 
with  act  requiring  division  into 
five  States,  171. 


Ohio,  admission  to  Union,  113. 

Ohio  and  Michigan,  boundary 
dispute,  159. 

"  Ohio  Company,"  113. 

Ohio  Valley  annexed  to  Canada, 
61. 

Oklahoma  Territory  organized, 
213. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  Northwest 
Territory,  91. 

Oregon,  Territory,  boundary  dis 
pute  and  settlement,  172 ;  ad 
mitted  as  State,  181. 

Orleans  Territory  organized,  126. 

Pacific  Railway,  196. 

Penn,  his  colony  in  America,  38. 

Pennsylvania,  settlement  of,  38. 

Peru,  conquest  of,  by  Pizarro,  12. 

Philippines,  annexed,  218 ;  gov 
ernment  described,  219. 

Pizarro,  conquest  of  Peru,  12. 

Plymouth  Company,  organiza 
tion  of,  24. 

Plymouth,  history  of,  28. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  exploration  of 
Florida,  12. 

Population,  1800  to  1903,  249. 

Population,  growth  of,  229. 

Population  of  America  when  dis 
covered,  estimates  of,  8. 

Porto  Rico  annexed,  218 ;  gov 
ernment  described,  219. 

Portugal,  colonization  in  Amer 
ica,  17. 

Quebec,  first  permanent  French 
colony,  26. 


Readmission  of  seceding  States, 
206. 


25G 


Index 


Reconstruction  after  Civil  War, 
'JOG. 

Relations  between  English  colo 
nies  prior  to  1 750,  48. 

Relinquishment  of  Western  terri 
tory  by  original  States,  82. 

Representation  of  slave  popula 
tion  in  Congress,  207. 

Revolution,  causes  of,  58 ;  Eng 
lish  territory  in  America  at 
beginning  of,  65. 

Revolution,  story  of  War  of,  67. 

Rhode  Island,  establishment  of 
colony,  35. 

Samoan  Islands  annexed,  220. 

San  Miguel,  Spanish  colony  on 
site  occupied  by  Jamestown,  4. 

Seceding  States  readmitted,  20G. 

Settlement  in  America,  first,  11. 

Slave  and  free  States  admitted 
alternately,  137-155. 

Slave  population,  representation 
in  Congress,  207. 

Slavery  excluded  from  territory 
northwest  of  Ohio,  90-95 ;  per 
mitted  in  territory  south  of 
Ohio,  95  ;  its  relation  to  the 
admission  of  States,  137,  150- 
152 ;  abolition  of,  in  Northern 
States,  155-196;  balance  of 
power  between  slave  and  free 
States,  156;  its  extension  to 
Western  Territories  discussed, 
183  ;  its  origin  in  the  United 
States,  195;  terminated  by  Civil 
War,  195. 

South  Carolina,  settlement  of, 
37  ;  history  of  its  Western  ter 
ritory,  97. 


South  Dakota,  admitted  as  State, 
210.  jf 

Spain,  war  with  United  Spates, 
15. 

Spanish  colonies  in  America,  date 
of,  12  ;  how  they  differed  from 
French  and  English,  22. 

State-making  described,  107. 

States,  admitted  without  Ter 
ritorial  apprenticeship,  107 ; 
how  organized  and  admitted, 
107. 

Statistics  of  area,  population, 
etc.,  249. 

Taxation  without  representation, 
opposition  to,  59. 

Tennessee,  admission  as  State, 
105. 

Territory  northwest  of  Ohio,  or 
ganization  of,  90. 

Territory  of  Missouri,  name  given 
Louisiana  Purchase,  140. 

Territory  south  of  Ohio,  organi 
zation  of,  94  ;  slavery  in,  95. 

Territory  relinquished  to  Union 
by  original  States,  82. 

Texas,  withdrawal  from  Mexico 
and  admission  as  State,  105; 
agreement  that  it  may  be  di 
vided  into  five  States, If  19  ;  pur 
chase  of  its  northern  area  by 
United  States,  170. 

Transylvania,  application  for  ad 
mission  to  Union,  103. 

Treaty  of  1763,  withdrawal  of 
French,  56. 

Treaty  of  1783,  its  addition  to 
Union,  77. 

Tutuila,  island  of,  annexed,  220. 


257 


Expansion   of  Our  Territory 


Union  of  colonies  and  independ 
ence,  57. 

United  States,  war  with  Spain, 
15. 

Utah,  organized  as  Territory, 
179;  admitted  as  Territory, 
213  ;  admitted  as  State,  213. 

Vermont,  history  and  admission 
to  Union,  100. 

War  between  States,  190. 

War  of  1812,  133. 

War  of  Revolution,  story  of,  67. 

Washington,  organized  as  Terri 
tory,  180;  admitted  as  State, 
210. 

West  Florida,  history  of,  135 ; 
added  to  national  area,  138. 


Western  lands  ceded  to  Union  by 

original  States,  82. 
Western     territory,     Jefferson's 

plan  for  division  and  govern 
ment,  88. 
West  Indies,  English  colonies  in, 

43. 
West  Virginia,    organization    as 

State  during  Civil  War,  200. 
Wisconsin,   admission  as   State, 

170. 
Wyoming,  composed  of  parts  of 

four  Territorial  additions,  212. 
Wyoming,    Territory    organized, 

210  ;  admitted  as  State,  210. 


Yazoo     Frauds " 
lands,  112. 


in     Georgia 


(1) 


THE   END 


258 


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